People from Venus

People from Venus might be one of the most aptly named bands on the local circuit — the group can seem, at certain musical moments, as though it has beamed in from another planet. Take those weird, eerie beeps and bloops at the beginning of “Lipstick,” the band’s should-be-a-hit song. Is that the mother ship calling frontman Paul Isaac back to wherever his otherworldly voice came from? In his high but never piercing croon, the thirsty Anglophile will find strong opening notes of Robert Smith, with a hint of Thom Yorke flavor.

And when the band rocks, it really rocks. Though the aliens describe themselves on their MySpace page as a “pop electro punk band,” what really comes through is a serious flavor of early glam, back when androgynous rocking Brits were equally space-obsessed. Think 1972-era David Bowie pausing occasionally to tinker with a computer. True, that’s heady praise, but the band’s songwriting polish promises great potential. And we’re not the only ones to think so: Spin recently named People from Venus in its occasional web series, “Seven Undiscovered Bands Worth a Listen.”