There’s something in the water in Perth, or so us music geeks have been claiming ever since the doco was released, but after listening to the newly released soundtrack, chances are it’s more than just fluoride.

The Rosemount Hotel hosted the double CD launch on Saturday night for the soundtrack to the documentary, Something in the Water, a compilation of successful Perth artists from the last 30 years or so. The makers toured it around the country last year, and now ABC TV has picked it up for airing sometime soon, although so far we don’t have a date for the screening.

The launch was awash with band members at varying levels of success and decline, most of them happy to remain anonymous and enjoy performances by four local bands, all of whom appear on the soundtrack, and all thoroughly entertaining their audiences despite the disparity of styles.

First up was the gorgeous Sex Panther; like sex kitten -only tough enough to look after themselves. They looked after their audience well too. They do chick-rock at its best without the baleful screech that so often accompanies the style. Abbe May loves them, and has joined them on stage a couple of times now, behind cat-mask and guitar. The people had a bit of a dance, unusual for so early in the evening, and came in from outside to at least listen and watch if they weren’t drunk enough to shake their kittens around. The set seemed to end just as it got going, right about the time some of the audience dared to imagine that they were indeed Pretty Boys. This track, and Of Swords are standout songs that randomly demand rotation on the mental jukebox, even when you can’t remember where you heard the song.

Abbe May had her Rockin Pneumonia on that night, although she did bring a bit of the devil in to fiddle it up a bit halfway through. It was good too see her back with the old band again, since she’s been seeing other musicians for a while, We were beginning to think she was never going back to the old flame. Saturday night proved she still loves them as much as ever, and that she has enough soul in her to share with at least 3 bands without any of them being jealous.

Sugar Army will be riding the Perth music surfboard all the way to international stardom by the end of the year, and on Saturday they gave us the benefit of all of the touring and recording they’ve been doing by treating us to an extremely tight performance. Its kind of a shame they are looking so rugged and manly these days, since the opportunity for terrible sugar related puns is taken away. Then again, they certainly qualify as eye candy these days, so maybe not a shame after all. They played EP songs, which never get old, and their new single Acute will be available on their myspace to download on 12th Feb. It’s difficult to remember much except the jumping, after hearing it only once, but if it’s anything like previous tracks it will be full of layers that gradually reveal themselves with each listen providing hours of overthinking joy.

The final splashdown of the night came from local veterans, Cinema Prague who have, until recently, been gone for a long while but are back and suddenly everywhere, reviving everyone’s taste for that smart, larrikin Indie that was so prevalent in the early Nineties. Their new album Snakes Alive was released a couple of weeks ago, you can read Jeifer’s review here.
Let it suffice to say that they got the Moo Moos dancing, and probably converted a good chunk of lesser mortals to the way of the moo as well.

The Rosemount was the perfect place to hold the launch considering the part the Venue has been playing for years by giving original acts a decent stage to play on with professional level lighting and sound and the opportunity to act like a real band. One disc of the compilation is full of new (and newish) stuff, the other is packed with classics from the Prague, The Stems, Baby Animals, Eurogliders, The Triffids and many more, who helped to shape the local music scene in the world’s most isolated city into the fertile tide it is today.