Dallas Crane
Factory Girls
SonyBMG

Having rocked the proverbial out of Melbourne's sticky-carpeted venues for a decade, Dallas Crane have never struck a chord with the mainstream music buying public with their recordings as they have with live performances. Their latest offering, 'Factory Girls', may just do that.

Enlisting the aid of Jonathan Burnside (Sleepy Jackson, Eskimo Joe) and Wayne Connolly (You Am I, The Vines) has given the songs a beefed-up production which results in a clear and crisp sound. Paring down the complexity of previous records to bare basics gives a stripped back approach - the songs are nary short of three and a half minutes, each chorus making the blood boil and each riff hitting the right spot.

Kicking off with the roof-raising Tonight! (There's A Party Goin' Down), a parcel of sheer hedonism that bristles with distorted guitar and a thumping funk beat, signals their intent to rock you and rock you hard. Lovers & Sinners gleefully pilfers the Nutbush with its duelling guitar and drum attack, the bass line bouncing along at the back. It's a sleazy, metallic-edged tune for the dag in us all.

Teenage Superpot tinkers with a bent groove whilst Matter Of Time experiments with twist rock'n'roll. God Damn Pride proves that rockers know how to have their down time and they do it so well with a harmony-drenched call to arms for a friend in need.

Dave Larkin is at the top of his game, stretching his awesome, husky rock vocal on acoustic closer, Keep Your Head High Bella Mae, an excellent piece of rock balladry, merging The Small Faces and The Band, drowning in vocals awash with melancholy.

If this record doesn't turn you onto the rock genius that is Dallas Crane, then nothing will. They are a band that are constantly progressing and if this is where they're at in 2006, look out.

Lauren Boxhall