From the hard, parched saltpan of the album’s front cover to the bloodcurdling crescendo at the end of the last track “Letter To Alan,” Circus Animals screams of its birthplace. Even without the place names, “Bow River,” “Houndog”, “Taipan” and “Numbers Fall” all tell of the Australian experience from the hot, barren coastal highways to the sloping indifference of Kings Cross, these are the Australian blues.