NOT FROM THERE Juanita's Cocktail Party (Infectious)

Another Infectious band drawn from a seemingly inexhaustible well of Antipodean talent, this Australian trio's first single pitches its tent somewhere between overplayed Nirvana-esque grunge dynamics and the elastic political funk of bands like Gang Of Four and Minutemen. Long, radio-unfriendly songs probably condemn them to a future in the margins, and although the press release dares to mention them in the same breath as Sonic Youth, Mogwai, Tortoise and Slint they're nowhere near as good as the aforementioned on this showing, although they do all share a welcome enthusiasm for experimentation. Their first long player "Sand On Seven" was voted Australia's album of the year by Juice magazine (wonder what came second…) so we may hear more of interest from them yet.