Melbourne's scratchy soothsayers The Stevens have shoehorned 24 tracks in under three-quarters of an hour on debut LP A History Of Hygiene, via quick-fire tales of chagrin told with foppish charm. A febrile dynamism lurks within the likes of twee fragility of Scared Of Other Men and the sepia unease of Hindsight too; but honestly, this record keeps on giving, like sugar and salt mainlined into the cerebral vortex. Put Flying Nuns and Chapter sons aside; The Stevens are their own beast. You won't be (C)lean, but you won't want to be either.
