agnes kain

So do you love clickety-clacks, hand claps, plenty o' la-di-das and aaaah-aaaaahs? Pretty girl vocals humming and chanting and call-and-responsing to cute keyboard melodies, melodicas and xylophones? Yeah? Well, you're sure to love Sydney's Agnes Kain, a boy-girl duo who released their debut album "Keep Walking or I'll Kill You" last year on Half a Cow Records. I'll save my HaC exaltations for another day, I think, even though I am already having lusty thoughts about a young Nic Dalton...

These songs are so adorably cute - it's fun pop music, and unashamedly so. It's all so simple and unpretentious, brimming with charm and not an ounce of cloying twee-ness to be found. All home-recorded, too! Listen to "Puddles and Mud" and it will make any rainy, miserable day instantly happy, even though the lyrics aren't necessarily the chirpiest around.

And look! Chanelle, the lovely singer, makes lots of dinky craft creations, as exhibited in their photographs. Multitalented! Nobody seems to want to make the trek to play in Brisbane these days, but maybe these southern bands might reverse that trend this year by coming up here and playing some shows. I might have to begin begging, or travelling south more often.