Album · Ball Park Music
Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs by Ball Park Music
Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs is an album by Ball Park Music, released in 2011. 1 song from it has charted on rock radio countdowns, with 3 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “It's Nice to Be Alive”, on 3 lists with a best position of #17.
Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs, the 2011 debut album from Brisbane five-piece Ball Park Music, landed on 9 September through Stop Start and EMI, and it plays like a sugar rush with a smart mouth. Sam Cromack, Jennifer Boyce, Paul Furness and Dean and Daniel Hanson worked with producer Matt Redlich, and the record fizzes with bright indie-pop hooks and a sly, sardonic streak.
The singles had already done the groundwork: "Sad Rude Future Dude", "Rich People Are Stupid", "It's Nice to Be Alive" and "All I Want Is You" all came out ahead of it, and "iFly" was carried over from their 2010 EP Conquer the Town, Easy As Cake. It entered the ARIA albums chart at number 36 and picked up a J Awards nomination for Australian Album of the Year. The story has a long tail, too: it climbed to a new peak of number 26 after the band's self-titled album came out in 2020.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It's Nice to Be Alive | 3 | #17 | – | 2011–2025 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.