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Was it Bob Dylan who inspired sadly-too-secret Scottish band Calvin's Dream to write that we are "living on scraps of the sixties?" It has never been more true. The Sleepy Jackson is from the western Australia land of--well--lots and lots of land; novelist Tim Winton's recent book Dirt Music describes the area as desolate.

With a back cover that shouts loud hints at Revolver_ the scraps of the sixties seem to have fallen into the lap of Luke Steele, The Sleepy Jackson's main man, and seem to have been from George Harrison. Harrison's place in Beatledom has been thankfully reassessed since his passing in late 2001, but his solo albums, apart from All Things Must Pass, have hardly been seen as on the cutting edge of what is current. Until now, that is. One could mistake thinking that this is a Harrison record either in the opening trademark slide guitar riff or in the major thread of the magpie material that The Sleepy Jackson dream weaves. The opener "Good Dancers" slows down into a Revolver-like psychedelic conclusion. Many other bits of scrap yarn make up the sometimes dense beauty of Lovers, including the light country pedal steel and fiddle of "Old Dirt Farmer" and west coast (California, not Perth) harmonies throughout.

There are left-field moments. The title "Vampire Racecourse" is weird. Its late seventies punk meeting The Who influence gives little clues to the voice lying beneath the mix. We hear that much better on "Rain Falls For Wind," the most satisfying track of all. The denseness makes it a little harder work than some, but this is a slow burn that will be getting many "album of the year" mentions in December.

Steve Stockman 8/28/2003