How do you spell fellatio?! Wifey’s Andy Calvert wants to know, and if that bouncy piano breakdown is anything to go by he’s pretty keen for you to clap your hands and join in with the answer.

You may think the band’s ode to the merits on on-stage onanism Phoenix Falling deserves a response spelled – œN-O-V-E-L-T-Y’. Not so. Wifey are much too smart and much too accomplished to let shock value dictate the terms of their debut EP Salt, Sugar, Fat.

Phoenix Falling is one of five tracks that barrel along like they’ve got a gallon of moonshine in their tank…and a small vial of poison in their hearts. The Sydney band’s playful Americana may seem irrepressible in its thirst for fun, but a concerted effort has been made to steer it away from being pure party fodder.

Homing is indeed a feisty mesh of hyperactive blues and country. Kathryn Brownhill’s folky violin and Jason Kingshott’s sparky percussion ensure that sitting down is not an option, but Calvert rightly believes proceedings will benefit from the addition of something, well, less cheery. With all the swagger and dark indifference of someone who has supreme confidence his self-loathing, Calvert is emphatic in his ballsy assertion that, “I don’t give a shit, I don’t mean nothin’ to nobody”.

Like most bands (to a lesser or greater extent), Wifey are inclined to ape their heroes. However, unlike most bands, they’re not content with pedestrian cover versions. Neither are they prepared to simply appropriate their influences in the hope that something original might eventuate.

Leonard Cohen’s Diamonds in the Mine fits perfectly with the band’s own line in tart wit, however, instead of a respectful re-work Wifey opt for a wholesale renovation. Lyrics are given a distinctly salty flavour: “he was eating out a lady like the lions and Christian’s fight” (bet Cohen wished he’d inserted the – œout’ and – œlike’ first time round). And instead of melancholic bluegrass the whole thing is re-built on less ponderous foundations made of honky-tonk piano and a bucket of bourbon.

On the face of it, Wifey may seem like the original good time band. Although Salt, Sugar, Fat is great fun, there’s more than enough here to ensure the band’s output will stay with you far longer than the average post-party hangover.

Salt, Sugar, Fat is out now through Tenzenmen.