REVIEW: Happy Patch, Oleander Land (Lazy Baby - Australia)

- Martin Bate

Happy Patch shine like a too-beautiful gem in the glut of pedestrian jazz-funk and stodgy heavy guitar bands which make up too much of the South Australian music scene. They've got the love-lorn indie-guitar thing down to a tee on this, their first outing, with a 5-track EP that mixes the sounds and emotions of bands like Swervedriver, American Music Club, The Smiths and Husker Du into one fluid whole.

Take the title track for instance - like a warm summer night that you know will finish too soon and the feeling you get when you see a beautiful girl across a bar and know you'll never talk to her. It can't just be me that feels that way about this.

I'm not pretending this is perfect. The production mars things now and again with the drums getting the 'cardboard-box' effect and the guitars not shimmering and slamming the way they do live. Also, singer Dale Covett tends to take a similar approach to each song - but with a voice this heart-breakingly beautiful its easy to forgive him.

In a just world, they'll go on to soundtrack a few more romantic idiot's summer nights but with little or no national music press in Australia and a scene where so many bands seem to spend their whole lives playing the same places every week, its not going to be easy. Wish them luck.

For further information on Happy Patch, write to the band at: 46 Blackler Street, Semaphore, South Australia 5019.