According to Dave Graney's trippy liner notes, the Sand Pebbles "write a daily TV show for bread... and one played league football." Mind you, his stream-of-unconsciousness testimony, like the Melbourne band's music, seems to come with the odd surge of chemical enhancement, so draw your own conclusions at the launch of their second LP, Ghost Transmissions.

Members of the self-diagnosed "experimental soundtrack rock" ensemble hail from such diverse day jobs and past lives as Seven Stories, The Sharp and, yes, the Neighbours script department. Their various film and fashion connections have led them in more interesting directions than most Hume Highway-hugging rock bands.

To say the least, the Pebbles play and record infrequently. Eastern Terrace, their sprawling psychedelic debut, is three years old. Ghost Transmissions is more concise and accessible but no more inclined to follow the crowd. Like Mr Graney says, "no bar band... no regular gigs to the regular crowd... these gents are aristocrats."

- Michael Dwyer