Ask brothers Antony and Royston Langdon, the smartly-dressed duo who form the creative core of Spacehog, what they meant by calling a record full of decidedly Anglo rock songs The Chinese Album and the answer you're likely to get is only slightly clearer than a bowl of egg drop soup.| It's about an old book of photographs, Chinese symbolism, living in Hong Kong and things just "starting to make sense, you know." Ummm, okay ...

But that, in a nutshell, is the essence of Spacehog -- four lads from Leeds, England who emigrated separately to New York City's grungy East Village, found each other through some feat of Brit magnetism and wound up getting signed to Sire/Elektra by bigwig Seymour Stein after just six months together. It's a tale of poignant kismet and damn good luck -- of following rhyme over reason and letting their music speak for itself.

In 1996, the group's debut, Resident Alien, did just that, spawning the monster hit "In the Meantime." The track was played into the ground by radio, shooting the record past the million sales mark and drawing the phrase "one hit wonder?" in a big bubble above the band's head in the process. Now, with new label Warner Bros. behind them and the attendant hype surrounding sophomore releases hanging in the air, Spacehog turn in this stunning collection of ambitious, yet highly nuanced songs.

"Well, I've never done a sophomore record before," guitarist Antony explains with a hint of his trademark sarcasm. "I haven't felt pressure in putting this record together." More to the point, he says it's a "far superior" record that "appears in a lot of ways to be just an extension of the first ..." From the perspective of the artist, that may be. But to the ears of an audience hungry for substantive rock in this era of much forgettable dreck, Chinese is a welcome change.

Beginning with a quirky minor-key piano progression that dissolves into a turntable scratch and segues into a heavy bass riff, the record reveals itself to be more than a collection of good guitar hooks. When Royston's Bowie-esque voice slips into the mix, it's time to ease yourself into the nearest velvet armchair and let the grooves roll. The same beatific, lush vibe pulsates through other standout tracks like "Lucy's Shoe." Others, like the cock-rock swagger of "Mungo City" and the pseudo country that is "Skylark" demonstrate the group's sonic range and complexity. Still, despite spots of catchiness, Chinese lacks a single with the core-rattling, zeitgeist-grabbing power of "Meantime."

"We've actually completely fallen into the trap which is having the hit single," Antony says." When you get signed to a major label and they put loads of money into it and they break a song ... then that's it, you're ruined basically. You don't really want that. At the same time, you want the success and everything that it brings -- you want the, uh, loot." He pauses for a moment, as if weighing the words that just passed through his lips.

"I'm not really worried about this record," he adds. "I think it's a great record and think it'll do well ... and, that's about it, really." (Joe Rosenthal for Rolling Stone Network)