Concert Preview by SIMON BARTZ Back in 1997, voices from outer space told three girls to start a band. Though they had never before picked up instruments in their lives, in true rock 'n' roll fashion, they snorted up the spirit of this unseen force, strapped on some guitars and became a gang of intergalactic uberbabes called Ex-Girl. Well, that's how they'll tell it anyhow.

One thing is true, however. Kirilo (bass), Chihiro (guitar) and Fuzuki (drums) soon hit the live-house stages of Japan, wearing Barbarella-in-the-bedroom outfits and annoying the hell out of punters with discordant noisescapes of weird, angular guitar riffs, swirling synths buzzing like alien war-copters, plus the odd bit of a cappella vocal acrobatics.

They've just released their third album and last year shared a single-of-the-week award in Britain's NME music newspaper with Japanese artists Ruins, Merzbow and Gaji, who each contributed a track to the all-conquering "Tokyo EP."

If you're into genre-lizing, Ex-Girl's latest, "Back to the Mono Kero," is either a full-on sonic assault of total punk rock or the new wave of space rock. Whichever you fancy. Just imagine krautrockers Can rewriting The Who's rock opera "Tommy" with help from Lena Lovich (Remember her? She's like Kate Bush with a nosebleed after embracing an evil combo of strong glue and amyl nitrate).

The cover of M's 20-year-old New Wave anthem "Pop Muzik" is, amazingly, weirder than the original: a four-minute manifesto of Ex-Girl's intents and purposes -- to take pop tunes and joyfully screw them up. Melodies? Who needs 'em?

Art rock? Space rock? Krautrock? Punk rock? Argh! Who cares? Ex-Girl is a hoot.