It’s hard to believe this was the same band that put out Sound As Ever three years earlier.
Where You Am I’s debut was hard-edged and angst-filled, Hourly Daily was 60s obsessed and bursting to the brim with pop melodies.
Ray Davies is its most obvious influence, with Tim Rogers painting character-based vignettes of Australian life in the suburbs.
The title track and album opener is case in point. A string-laden ballad about the mother of a racist teen, Rogers sings: “there’s 14 year olds singing ‘get out of my country’, I won’t let him rise, just to say goodbye.”
You Am I were also keen to experiment with more varied instrumentation on Hourly Daily. The high-energy RnB of “Soldiers” and “Baby Clothes” both feature a horn section, while Rogers sings “Heavy Comfort” accompanied solely by a string quartet.
Despite that, Hourly Daily’s highlights are still the straight-up pop rock the three-piece began to perfect on Hi Fi Way. “Mr Milk” is a barrel of fun and “Good Mornin’” is one of band’s ultimate pop moments.
Of the three “Superunreal” reissues, Hourly Daily includes the most-vital bonus material. In particular, “Up Against It”, which was slated for the album but never released, and a version of “Tuesday” with alternate lyrics.
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The non-album material compiled here is also among the band’s best, especially the title track to the highly-sought after Trike EP, and “Soldiers” b-sides “Boulder Fair”, “Six” and “Count To Four”.
Also worth a mention is the live set Beat Party, which boast scintillating cover of The Stooges’ “Search and Destroy”.
In its ambition and scope, Hourly Daily was the ideal follow up to Hi Fi Way.
Simply put, this is another classic album from one of our finest-ever bands.
