Ground Components
An Eye For A Brow, A Tooth For A Pick
Shock

In just a month's time, 'best of' lists for 2006 will be compiled. Here's an early tip for one of the top five Australian placings. Melbourne four-piece Ground Components concoct a heady brew of '60s garage, soul, and Clash-esque rock. It's a rare band that can find something new to say with such well-worn influences and that's what makes this record such a treat. For all the years it's taken them to get around to releasing a long-player - two EPs in around five years precede this - Ground Components still sound like a garage band thrilled by what they're discovering and completely unselfconscious about what they're appropriating (and how's this for self-confidence on a debut album: a 10-minute rock re-working of Dylan's classic It's Alright Ma)?

Joe McGuigan shouts his way through like his life depends on it - and indeed, when the music seems to matter this much, maybe it does - while the rest of the band pounds away exuberantly. Apart from the lovely, mood shifting ballad, As The Winter Months Approach, it's pedal to the metal pretty much all the way through. The opening foursome of On Your Living Room Floor, Stale Thoughts, Coming In From All Angles (featuring an inspired collaboration with rapper Romy Hoffman from Macromantics) and the glorious powerpop of Hands In The Air must constitute one of the most self-assured fuck-off openings heard on a debut record for a long time. For sheer conviction, this will be hard to beat in 2006. Stirring stuff.

Peter Strelan