Sydney boys Super Florence Jam have been a staple on the local scene for a number of years now, having supported the likes of British India and Shihad. The band's latest venture is releasing a new digital single new digital single each month on their website- http://superflorencejam.bandcamp.com. Prior to this they brought out the superbly titled single Anastasia Won’t you Sleep With Me and a rather conventionally self-titled EP.

I might as well get my main hang-up about this band out of the way right away. The most instantly characteristic and in my opinion, the worst aspect of Super Florence Jam’s sound are the paper thin falsetto vocals courtesy of guitarist Adam Krawczyk. Fortunately all four members of SFJ share vocal duties, which for the most part fall on the not-so-screechy end of the spectrum. Unfortunately the screechy falsetto does feature far too prominently for my liking.

Alright, now that that’s out of the way I can go on to say that Super Florence Jam produce some very sophisticated, catchy garage rock. Led Zeppelin is an obvious influence and perhaps the cause of the terrible falsetto, however these boys’ main focus seems to be on frenetic energy and brash delivery. This is by no means a bad thing.

“Anastasia Won’t You Sleep With Me” almost sounds like it could be a Blood Brothers song if it was more distorted and sped up just a touch. The other two songs on the single each have a running time of barely over a minute and could be accused of being mere filler tracks, however to their credit SFJ manage to pull it off.

“Irrepressible” has the rousing old-school punk energy of the Ramones and everyone knows all the best punk songs are less than two minutes long. This track is one of the few is mercifully devoid of any falsetto (I’m sorry I keep bringing it up, but honestly it’s hard to get past).

“Walkin’ on The Rocks” on the other hand is an unrelenting screech fest with complete with 50s rock & roll piano played at hyper speed. This is what Little Richard might sound like on cocaine. It would be cruel to make a Scissor Sisters comparison, because it does work in a weird way.

The self-titled EP appears to be a more accurate representation of Super Florence Jam’s sound. The opener “Ghetto Project Fabulous” (another superb title) is a tasty slab of balls-out rock & roll goodness. I’m not exactly sure what they’re trying to say by “Mean woman I’m the head of your department” but blistering lead guitar licks that interweave through the chorus sure make me want to find out. Another highlight is “The Circle” which has the most infectious groove this reviewer has heard in a long while.

The rest of the EP is bit hit and miss. “No Time” pushes the falsetto vocals to new heights of ridiculousness previously only achieved by The Darkness. Luckily this is balanced out by the clever combination of trippy psychedelic atmospherics and stripped back garage rock on “Ten Years”.

If you can get past the falsetto vocals Super Florence Jam are a tight, accomplished group of young musicians. If you are of the rare breed of people whose heart skips a beat at the sound of male vocals pushed far beyond their natural range add a point to the score. Hell, add two.

Review Score:

Anastasia Won’t You Sleep With Me – 6/10
Super Florence Jam - 6/10