Watching someone on their first listen to Brisbane alternative breakthroughs Dead Letter Circus searching to come up with a neat description is fascinating viewing… “It’s kind of like… no wait, it’s more of a… Wow, I have no idea what it is, but it’s different…” Part of the beauty of the soaring, sing-a-long choruses, chiming atmospherics and delay soaked tones of Dead Letter Circus is their escape from easy classification via labels or scenes.

What’s that, you want the recipe though? Well, take quality musicianship, melt melodies that soar over modern rock tones, then whip audiences across the land into a frenzy with an unrelenting touring schedule. Marinate in very strong independent EP sales, a heaving army of passionate supporters won from festival battles and airwave solicitation, and bring to the boil with an incendiary Big Day Out performance on full heat. Serve hot and compare result to Mars Volta, but be aware that Dead Letter Circus is the rarest of flavours, brilliant but ultimately indescribable, best tasted for yourself.

In a whirlwind 12 months, Dead Letter Circus have shared stages with the likes of Cog, Karnivool, Chevelle and The Butterfly Effect, signed on with Silverchair’s booking agent New World Artists, struck a chord here and abroad with their selftitled EP, signed a worldwide publishing deal with Universal, continued to peddle their wares to all parts of the country, and set about bringing their debut album to life in 2008. And while they may not fit into the constraints of a tidy town genre, there is a certainty amongst the creative confusion… just one spoonful of Dead Letter Circus will leave you hungry for more…