THE SWING - Melbourne trio Snout turn on a beat happening, Daddio!    Snout - Circle High and Wide (Au Go Go/Shock)

For Snout, it's the swing of the thing that counts. Circle High and Wide, the Melbourne three-piece's third album, continues to develop singer/songwriter Ross McLennan's personal beat-pop manifesto. It's as plain as day from the chorus of the album's first single, the twitchy and infectious "Hey Hey Hey" : "Spare me the misplaced love of the lyric sheet/Bring back that beat/Hey hey hey hey." And Snout sure does bring back that beat. Songs such as "Circle High and Wide", "Random Number Generator", "Hey Hey Hey" and "Down Without a Sound" are all joyous butt-shakers guaranteed to raise a smile. "Got Sold on Heaven" and "School Dux" slow the beat down to a lulling pop tempo, with the beautiful melodies and simple instrumentation coming to the fore. Sure, McLennan and his cohorts (guitarist Greg Ng and drummer Ewan McCartney) are open to accusations that they are a retro act (one look at the outfits and the coiffure is all it takes to confirm this), but there's much more to Snout's sound than the obvious Beatles and Small Faces comparisons would suggest. Snout's love of a good beat foundation owes much to '70s heroes such as Mick Ronson than anything else. Together with McLennan's distinctive vocals and crackpot's regard for physics ("Random Number Generator", "The Secret Nightworld of the Code Divisor") and the band's knack for the slightly off-kilter (think weird noises and sudden tempo changes), it makes for a unique and compelling sound. And, thanks to the crisp and warm production of Greg Wales, Snout have never sounded better on record than they do here. 1967 was not Snouts time; 1998 may well be. 

* * * * Andrew Humphreys 

BEST TRACKS: "Circle High and Wide", "Got Sold on Heaven" & "Hey Hey Hey".  
FILE UNDER - Beat Pop: Beatles, Small Faces & David Bowe - Pin Ups. 

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