Sans Souci by Frenzal Rhomb

Sans Souci, Frenzal Rhomb's sixth album, came out in April 2003, on Epitaph at home in Australia and on Fat Wreck Chords everywhere else, with Eddie Ashworth producing. The songs were hatched the scrappy way: new bassist Tom Crease recalled the band hammering demos onto an eight-track at singer Jason Whalley's house day and night, then decamping to the rehearsal room for Gordy Forman to bash out drums, knocking out a fresh CD of half a dozen songs every few weeks.

With Lindsay McDougall on guitar, the Sydney lifers deliver pop-punk the Australian way: fast, snotty and allergic to seriousness, hooks barreling past before you've clocked them. "Russell Crowe's Band" is the one that stuck, and the title tells you the cheek is intact. Whalley, the only member there from the start, keeps it sounding like a pub brawl with harmonies. For the Term of Their Unnatural Lives came next.

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