Hourly, Daily. That’s about how often I’ve been listening to this album. The pleasing pop melodies and harmonic simplicity have put a strangle hold on me as of late – monopolizing my CD player.

These three guys from Australia fit the “rocker” stereotype like a wet rubber glove. They have enormous appetites for beer, they grew up listening to The Stones and idolizing the Kiss Army, they smash up guitars on occasion and they can’t utter a word without first preceding it with the word “fucking.”

Hourly, Daily combines the heavy garage pop rock of The Replacements with the warm harmonies of Teenage Fan Club. The title track is wonderful songwriting with great depth and a tempo resurrecting the aura of The Kinks. Lead singer Tim Rogers often sounds as if the high notes are completely deflating him of air – yet he never falters.

Other enjoyable moments include “Trike,” a song that borrows a page from fellow Aussie band Hoodoo Gurus, “Tuesday” with its Sgt. Pepper horns and “Please Don’t Ask Me to Smile” with its quiet boyish charm. “Opportunities,” with its “bah-bah bah-bah-bah big opportunity” chorus, refuses to leave my skull, and that’s just fine by me.

Bands like Savage Garden, Silverchair and Natalie Imbruglia have given Australians little to cheer about. But the auspicious sounds of You Am I have rekindled my optimism in the strength of the Australian music scene. It’s the best thing I’ve heard out of Australia in a long time.