Venus Returning by The Mavis's

Venus Returning was the 1996 debut album from the Mavis's, the band from Ballarat, Victoria, fronted by siblings Becky Thomas on vocals and keyboards and Matt Thomas on guitar and vocals, with Andrea Vendy on drums, Nick Gill on guitar and Josh Alexander on bass. Mushroom released it, and Kalju Tonuma, better known as Nick Barker, produced.

It's a gloriously scrappy pop record. The Thomas siblings' voices rub together in a wonky, imperfect harmony, the guitars crash in, the melodies are coated in sugar, and the keyboards goof around in the corners, while a sitar, Tibetan bells and an Indian banjo sneak into the arrangements. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane heard it as a showcase for the band's brash sound. It climbed to number 76 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and Pink Pills followed.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.