Named after a 9th-century Indian saint and poet-king, Kula Shaker has always operated on a different frequency than their mid-’90s British Invasion brethren. While acts like Blur and Oasis reveled in laddish bravado and second-hand cool, Kula Shaker arrived in mysticism, sitar-infused psychedelia, and spiritual curiosity. With zero irony. Frontman Crispian Mills positioned the group as believers, fusing British psych traditions with Eastern philosophy in a way that felt lived-in rather than costume-based.
That sense of otherness paid off immediately.
Early success propelled them to the top of the charts and even earned an invitation from Noel Gallagher to share the stage with Oasis at Knebworth. Their debut album, K, spawned MTV hits such as “Tattva” and “Hey Dude” while standing apart from the post-grunge conveyor belt. Steeped in spiritual imagery and classic psych textures, Kula Shaker sounded more like Jimi Hendrix sitting in with The Doors.
Predictably, mainstream trends evolved, and their rise was followed by a long, uneven comedown. Lineup changes and shifting trends dulled their momentum, and later releases struggled to recapture that initial spark.
Fast forward to 2026, and something has clearly re-ignited.
With the classic lineup restored, the band feels a renewed sense of purpose driving this latest chapter. Wormslayer feels less like a comeback and more like a band finally growing into its own mythology. On their 8th album, the sound is rich and technicolor, full of celestial harmonies and psychedelic excess. But it also showcases the band’s unwavering willingness to wander.
The record is a loose, operatic narrative about belief, exploitation, and perception in an arc that feels deliberately theatrical. It’s ambitious and mystical without disappearing into psychedelic symbolism. Pastoral folk passages sit beside gothic melodrama, while heavier, mantra-like moments stretch into something cinematic. Mills’ writing frames it as a metaphor for life itself, and by extension, the music industry, where miracles and freak accidents are often separated only by perspective.
Crucially, these songs are built to be played loud and live.
The music reflects a physicality that reflects a band still at its best onstage. Guitars are larger than life while the rhythm section beats like an all-knowing heart. And it all feels as if its feeding off communal energy rather than studio perfection.
There’s no sense of apology or attempts to sand down the weird edges that once made them stand out. Recent tours alongside Ocean Colour Scene and The Dandy Warhols have shown that their audience remains as varied as ever. Aging psych heads revisit their youth, while younger fans get to discover this strain of British rock for the first time, complete with hand-me-down influences like The Stone Roses.
Three decades in, Kula Shaker sound oddly reinvigorated.
This album leans fully into wonder, spirituality, and excess, proving that curiosity still matters. In a genre increasingly obsessed with nostalgia, the band provides something rarer: a rock band still chasing transcendence. They’re still convinced that British-flavored guitar rock can be more than mop-tops and Rickenbacker jangle. While the group has steered the highs and weathered the lows, they still have enough hard-earned experience and youthful vigor to travel wherever the road takes them.
Wormslayer is available from Strange FOLK on January 30th at kulashaker.os.fan