The Valentinos
The Valentinos EP
Silent Partner/Inertia

How much hype is a good thing? For this Sydney five-piece, whose rise to prominence has been alarmingly rapid, it seems to be just enough bluster. The rest is pure brilliance.

For their debut release, The Valentinos stick to the formula that has converted fans to their live shows, frantic rhythms, wiry guitar lines and breathless vocals that combine to create a noise that has the energy of a thousand cans of Red Bull.

The recording has the feeling of a live recording. The production isn't slick, the bass drum booms and the snare pops, but it all makes sense with the electricity that pulses through all five tracks.

To cross reference their sound would be to list every band of note from the early 80s to the present, they create a pastiche of sounds that becomes wholly their own.

Pinned down by a solid rhythm section, the rest of the band let rip with guitars that slice, buzz, jangle and make noises that are from another planet.

Even the slower moments have the same sense of wired anticipation, the clipped vocals drawing you through the song with whatever it is they are singing about. The lyrics are cryptic, maybe a little too cryptic for their own good at times.

For a band that was once described as "a drunk version of The Rolling Stones", they have come a long way. And seeing as this is their first foray into recording, they'll go a lot further too.