Here's my pick of the week, maybe even pick of the month. While in Australia last year, I discovered several wonderful things. Most of them were food (breakfast sausage big as your head, honeycomb candies, Fabo burgers), but none were as good as Muscles. Muscles is actually just one dude from Melbourne, but his songs are so well-constructed that I thought he was a band until I finally saw him live in NYC recently. I've heard comparisons to Pet Shop Boys, but his vocals remind me of the lead singer of Liars (on the first record, not the recent shite). "One Inch Badge Pin(1)" is a great introduction to Mr. Muscles - the lyrics straddle the line between cheeky and emo, and the multi-tracked harmonies lay perfectly over the clattering bones and rave synth stabbing beat. "Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon & Lime(2)" is just as good, and way more upbeat / less scary. On the flip, we get two remixes of "One Inch Badge Pin" from some more hot Aussies - the Bag Raiders' mix(3) is a direct Daft bite but it's still great, and Van She's version(4) gets it loud n' dirty with layer upon layer of guitar and electronics. This dude just signed with Modular, so you'll be hearing a lot more from him soon - consider this the warning shot. Big up Sleater Brockman for putting me on to this one. Killer pic sleeve from Melbourne's own Hana Shimada. Includes acapella for "One Inch Badge Pin." Highly recommended.

reviewed by Chris Lemon-Red