Any Australian who went through their teenage years in the late 90s will know what Triple J's Unearthed is. The radio station would, one region at a time, invite unknown bands to submit demo tapes to them. They would then pick the best demo tapes, and invite the bands into the studio to record a song, giving the bands lots of hype and exposure as they went. Many bands went on from this competition to make it, such as Grinspoon and Killing Heidi. Most of them sunk without a trace. Until recently, I thought Muzzy Pep was one of those bands.

Up until I saw a Muzzy Pep album coming up on a list of upcoming albums at a record shop. I remembered quite enjoying their winning Unearthed song, 185, so I asked very nicely if I could have a copy reserved for me. One thing that's great about independent shops, that I've yet to find in big chain places like Sanity and HMV, they're always happy to do favours for me, and they know that since I buy so many albums, they're willing to live with a higher-than-usual return rate as I send back the trash. Anyway, I was probably the first person in Tasmania to have a copy of this record.

The band made the unusual move of going all the way from their homes in Newcastle to Freemantle to record this record with Shaun O'Callaghan, who has also worked with such bands as Eskimo Joe. He's done a good job, the production on this record is crisp and clear, without being so clean as to make the music sound artificial. What we have here is a well-crafted pop record, which still has that rough, grumbly finish to it. Tracks like Made From Concentrate have all the desirable pop attributes, without being overbearing or sickly. On the other hand, in tracks like Future's Underway, the band show they're willing to meddle with the formula for no good reason, in this case adding a saxophone solo which really gives an already good song some good definition.

This isn't a masterpiece, but it's still nice to see Muzzy Pep producing a nice album like this. It's sort of like getting together for coffee with an old friend, and learning that they're doing well. I recommend this record.

Any Australian who went through their teenage years in the late 90s will know what Triple J's Unearthed is. The radio station would, one region at a time, invite unknown bands to submit demo tapes to them. They would then pick the best demo tapes, and invite the bands into the studio to record a song, giving the bands lots of hype and exposure as they went. Many bands went on from this competition to make it, such as Grinspoon and Killing Heidi. Most of them sunk without a trace. Until recently, I thought Muzzy Pep was one of those bands.

Up until I saw a Muzzy Pep album coming up on a list of upcoming albums at a record shop. I remembered quite enjoying their winning Unearthed song, 185, so I asked very nicely if I could have a copy reserved for me. One thing that's great about independent shops, that I've yet to find in big chain places like Sanity and HMV, they're always happy to do favours for me, and they know that since I buy so many albums, they're willing to live with a higher-than-usual return rate as I send back the trash. Anyway, I was probably the first person in Tasmania to have a copy of this record.

The band made the unusual move of going all the way from their homes in Newcastle to Freemantle to record this record with Shaun O'Callaghan, who has also worked with such bands as Eskimo Joe. He's done a good job, the production on this record is crisp and clear, without being so clean as to make the music sound artificial. What we have here is a well-crafted pop record, which still has that rough, grumbly finish to it. Tracks like Made From Concentrate have all the desirable pop attributes, without being overbearing or sickly. On the other hand, in tracks like Future's Underway, the band show they're willing to meddle with the formula for no good reason, in this case adding a saxophone solo which really gives an already good song some good definition.

This isn't a masterpiece, but it's still nice to see Muzzy Pep producing a nice album like this. It's sort of like getting together for coffee with an old friend, and learning that they're doing well. I recommend this record.