I (Heart) Mentals

I have been listening to an imported "best of" CD by Mental as Anything since receiving it from Amazon last night.
Here are seven great things about the band:
1) Founding members Greedy Smith, Martin Plaza and Reg Mombassa met at a Sydney art school and formed the band in a bid to secure free drinks.
2) All three founders became accomplished painters, and Mombassa eventually quit to further his art career. His designs help popularize the Mambo clothing company.
3) Their music combines the roots-rock simplicity of Rockpile, the bouncy, melodic pop of Squeeze and the quirky, self-deprecating humor of Madness -- perhaps never better than in the hit "If You Leave Me Can I Come Too?" -- yet the band remain as Australian as an Akubra hat.
4) Their art-school sensibilities (and enduring connections) helped them concoct some of Australia's most creative music videos, such as the clip for "Spirit Got Lost." Look them up on YouTube.
5) As a promotional ploy, the band spent part of an early 1980s tour mowing lawns in each of Australia's major cities.
6) In Smith, Plaza, Mombassa and Peter O'Doherty, the band boasted a quartet of stellar songwriters.
7) Greedy Smith, Martin Plaza, Reg Mombassa and Wayne "Bird" DeLisle? Yeah, right. Their real names are Andrew Smith, Martin Murphy, Chris O'Doherty (Peter's older brother) and, er, Dave "Bird" Twohill.