16 Lovers Lane is a pillow sack of candy treats. The guitaring is so glossy and bright, it is downright edible. Streets of Your Town, despite it's Shiny Happy People backing vocals, is a damn catchy gem. It has a haunting choruses you'll whistle on your way to work and "Round and Round, Up and Down, through the streets of your town". Rock and Roll Friend is another number best left along with legwarmers and Bon Jovi; though I can imagine it would take well to a re-working to remove the curse of the Casio.

It always amuses me to have songs of heartbreak such as the shimmery Clouds, but to have them so damn beautiful you almost don't care about the ring of fire around your heart. Bittersweet and tender, the lyrics say it all "I have to see straight, that will make me unkind. Visions of blue, I'm angry and wise and you, you're under cloudy skies". Love Goes On! has what may be the most fantabulous bass lines of any song on 16 Lovers Lane. It sticks in my craw until I must get home and play along, and even then it taunts me in my sleep. This is easily the hookiest song in their entire catalog, so catchy you even sing along to the " bah bah bah's".

"Lovers want the moon", indeed. Dive for Your Memory is mournful and trenchant; a lover pleading for reconciliation and reconnection: "When I hear you saying, that we stood no chance, I'd dive for your memory, we stood that chance". Awash with subtle yet aching guitar, this song rival's Cattle and Cane for the most lauded Go-Betweens song. 16 Lover's Lane, while shattered and laced with melancholy, remains romantic and opulent. Another album standout is the serene lullaby, Quiet Heart.

If you are already a Go-Betweens fan and an owner of the original versions of these cds, Jetset is offering some tasty additions as incentive to add the re-mastered versions to your collection. Each title (inclusive of the earlier re-released Send Me A Lullaby, Before Hollywood, and Spring Hill Fair) is a two-cd set bolstered by an extra cd of rare and previously unreleased songs, a 28 page book with extensive liner notes and photos, and if you are the sort, 3 videos per release. Jetset's Go-Betweens re-releases, unlike the Camper Van Beethoven re-releases, are not preceded (and smartly so) by an expansive box set, so this material will be the first released bonus/archive material of these three titles.

If you are completely new to the group, I suggest starting with 16 Lovers Lane (and then greedily buying up all the other releases).