Sydney's Sneaky Sound System are hoping to capitalise on the new wave of Aussie acts breaking through to Europe over the past 18 months, but their debut northern hemisphere release (a combination of tracks from their two albums) isn't half as eclectic or interesting as they'd like to think. In fact, it's really rather tedious at times. Their hybrid of dance and pop is a tried-and-tested formula, but where the sextet fail to deliver is on hooks - there's plenty of listenable songs here, but very few memorable ones.
Singer Connie Mitchell doesn't help matters much. Her voice is certainly semi-soulful and mostly tuneful, but when spread across thirteen tracks of similar tempo, it wears more than a little thin. The zippy, Sophie Ellis-Bextor-does-Ibiza beats of 'UFO' ("I saw a UFO and nobody believes me"), 'Pictures' and 'It's Not My Problem' are all initially tolerable, as is the Black Eyed Peas vs. Estelle-like 'When We Were Young', probably the best track here. Vocoders speak louder than words, though, and when it's introduced on 'Lost in the Future', there are high hopes for what sounds like an interesting tune - before Mitchell's identikit trill breaks through the pulsing beat like a gaseous emission though a paper bag.
It's not surprising that Sneaky Sound System have breached the Australian music scene's barriers. Their sound is mainstream enough to be successfully pumped from radios around the world, but there are already far too many songs in the world to merely tap your toe to. We don't need thirteen more.
