(Matinee Recordings)

www.indiepages.com/matinee

You'd think that after more than a decade of plying their wares, a band as melodically endowed as the Lucksmiths would have a bit more... well, luck... at least in terms of wider recognition. Maybe it's the watery divide; being an Aussie band, that's a lot of distance to transcend between here and there.  Come to think of it, that's the only plausible reason why this starry-eyed quartet hasn't garnered their due.  Purveyors of a supple, soft-spoken pop eloquence - think the Housemartins and their successors, the Beautiful South - they supply an affable sound accompanied by an instant embrace. 

Theirs is an idyllic view, as evidenced in such titles as "Song of the Undersea," "The Town & The Hills," "South-East Coastal Rendezvous" and "Up With the Sun," songs that in both style and substance offer a wistful view of quiet country lanes, twilight encounters and mornings of quiet reflection.  The assured perspective is especially pronounced in lines like, "Listen to me this time/The city's sand and lime/And skylarks long have left its streets/Where the darkness meets," the alluring imagery betraying their poetic perspective.  And while the eager, irresistible refrains of "Good Light" and the churning rhythms of "Never & Always" up the ante in terms of energy, First Frost consistently maintains its warm and radiant glow.  This could well be the album that brings the Lucksmiths the good fortune they so genuinely deserve.

Standout tracks:  "The Town & The Hills, "Who Turned on the Lights," "The National Mitten Registry" LEE ZIMMERMAN