This is from Perth, turned Melbourne band, Sodastream. Specifically, its from their 2003 album, A Minor Revival. Sodastream seem to have garnered a remarkable level of success outside Australia. They have done very well for themselves in Europe. Yet they seem to struggle to make Australian's sit up and notice. Is it their slightly twee style? The Australian aversion to fey-pop?

The Europeans love this fey-pop stuff. Lead singer Karl Smith, who barely ever sings above a whisper, sounds like he is permanantly cursed with a stuffy blocked nose and the use of an upright Double Bass gives the sound a very melancholy texture. The British and other Europeans would lap it up. It's the music that best reflects the way they feel.

It doesn't seem to get such a positive reception here in Australia. So often you can look to the climate of any given region of the world, and make some pretty good predictions about the sort of music appreciated there. You can always say, for instance, that an album of mariachi music is never going to sell well in Iceland and that Sodastream are always going to be somwhat out of their natural element here in their home country of Australia. Which might partly explain why they are spending so much of their time in 2003 touring their new album internationally, while Australian media, such as Triple J, have barely noticed at all. It remains to be seen whether or not JJJ will make a feature album out of, A Minor Revival. It will certainly prove my point if they do not, for this will definitely be among my top 5 albums of the year.

Sodastream - Blinky 192kbps, 4.74mb
Sodastream - Undone 192kbps, 4.36mb
Sodastream - Out 192kbps, 5.54mb
Sodastream - The Women's Revue 192kbps, 5.9mb