Oh no, it's the attack of the pre-pubescent rock band! Head for the hills, mate!

OK, its not that dramatic, but this trio of teenagers, aged 15, 16 & 17, are "the next big thing" according to a lot of people who have heard them. They may be right. "Frogstomp" has that potential as a debut CD to vault these Aussies to the top of the mountain. Naturally, everyone will expect their next release to bring them crashing down to the ground. That is the nature of the business.

But I don't think that will happen to these guys. They have been approached, seemingly by everyone, trying to sign them up for the standard "rock star" contract. Well, Silverchair doesn't seem to want that. They are sticking to their roots, declining media interviews by national and teen mags and daily papers, deciding, however, to grant interviews to fanzines and the more credible music press. They even passed up several offers to join major tours to play "Big Day Out," (Australia's version of our Lollapalooza) where they tore the second stage up.

While this may seem weird to a lot of people who would kill to be in their position, the story behind how they got to where they are is even more bizarre.

They entered their song "Tomorrow" in a national demo competition, and won (from over 800 entries). The prize was a day in the recording studio of Australia's national alternative station 2JJJ-FM. They went in, redid "Tomorrow," and gave the tape to the station. 2JJJ-FM added the song to its playlist, and after listener response was phenomenal, they put it into regular rotation, which means they played it every four hours. Within six months, "Tomorrow" was the #1 song in Australia, and silverchair was one of the most popular bands. And all this was before they signed any deal or released an album. Their next single, "Pure Massacre" followed "Tomorrow" right up to the top of the chart.

"Frogstomp," produced by Kevin Shirley (a well known in the Aussie underground), was recorded in only nine days, but it sounds very professional and clean, not like it was rushed out to keep Silverchair's momentum going.

The beginning of the CD "Israel's Son" is a very catchy song with a deep bass line, fuzzy guitar and a slow, heavy drum beat. Vocalist Daniel Johns voice is clear and forceful, not overly loud and grumbly like a lot of their heroes (namely from the Seattle area).

A lot of people will be stunned by this debut release, and hopefully, Silverchair can follow this one up with even more success, yet still maintain their unusual style in handling all the stardom.

Reviewer:  Frank Renda.