Okus Dolphin are either a great band or they are the worst band in the world ever. Either way, they are completely bonkers.

Little is known about Okus Dolphin other than their name, the fact that all words and music are credited to a C. H. Farnsworth, and that these songs were written between "1999 and 2005". Yes. That's right, some of this music has come to us direct from the future.

The Future Sound of Dolphins:

On the plus side, they have imaginative, catchy songs that vary in style and are filled with poetic meaning. Meanwhile, on the negative side, they have imaginative, catchy songs that vary in style and are filled with poetic meaning.

And therein lies the problem. The reasons why Okus Dolphin may be great are the very same reasons that you may hate them.

Sing-a-long-a-Liturgy:

"Angel of Mercy" is a case in point. After a fairly average sounding scratchy lo-fi first verse, the song turns into something from the audition scenes of Phoenix Nights.

The lyrics sound like something from a liturgy ("Angel of Mercy - have pity on me/Angel of Mercy - See my Deeds"), but the music sounds like a drunken attempt at karaoke. And yet it's catchy enough to stick in your head for the rest of the day.

Club Singing:

The music calls to mind a whole host of references: The Violent Femmes, Joy Division, The Velvet Underground being three such examples that will make them sound worth listening to.

I could, however, put you off by telling you that, simultaneously, Okus Dolphin sound like Vic Reeves doing a selection of Sonic Youth covers - with a cheap 80s keyboard.

Oriental Excess:

Lyrically, the band are as weird as their music. "Then The Sky Went Out", for example, features the line "The Monolok-Clock is on the wall - The Queen has got three daughters". Few other songs make sense.

They are generally odes to mystical beings and the natural world dressed up in odd imagery and half completed thoughts. Eastern Philosophy and religion has been done well in songs before from The Beatles through to a brilliantly named Japanese group called Maher Shalal Hash Baz . Okus Dolphin, meanwhile have some way to go.

One lyric (from "Forever's Widow") goes as follows: "My voice is still rambling all about". Well, at least he is self aware.

Long Player:

At sixteen tracks, Album 1: Oriental is fairly difficult to digest. This does not account for the extra six "Alternatives" found at the end for die hard Dolphin fans. What is particularly confusing about the CD is that the lo-fi, scratchy keyboards and cheap keyboards are sandwiched between two fast paced pieces of electronica.

The result is as disconcerting as hearing a Chemical Brothers track segue into something by Pavement.

Enigma:

Okus Dolphin are something of an enigma. Not only do we have no contact details for them, but the very little we do have of them - their music - is so plain weird. If this is the sound of music from 2005, I may have to sell my CD player.

22/06/04 - First published on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire on this link