Whacked Beauty

I have made no bones about how great I thought Sydney outfit You Beauty's NRL concept album Jersey Flegg was last year. Some of my choice words about that amazing record is here. It's perfect in every way. But you also got a sense that the concept may have maketh the band - that unless we heard more stories about washed up rugby league stars who rise above the ruin of suburban malaise and faded glories to find their own belated redemption, there would be no more You Beauty.

With 'Illywhacka', all fears are put to rest. Opting to sidestep the grassroots footy dynastic saga (it is a perfect tome as it stands), the band have come out with a new story that needs unearthing, something darker in the terms of a stalker... While the details aren't yet forthcoming, I am nonetheless on board. And the track? It is crystalline, punchy, tongue-in-cheek yet deliberate - what is becoming a quintessential You Beauty trait, then. While in a different realm, there could be parallels made to Brisbane's The Stress of Leisure, what with the enthralling stories, evident swagger, addictive grooves and a propensity to walk very much in their own style without input from any other touchstone or influence.The album will also be called Illywhacka, and is again find its way out into its own skewed world with help from Rice Is Nice in the upcoming months.