Jagwar Ma's meteoric rise in 2013 was less a case of 'from little things, big things grow', and more like 'from little things, big things shall dramatically escalate and change your life'.
"I kind of had this instrumental kicking around..." Jono Ma, one half of the Sydney act told triple j.
Ma and vocalist/guitarist Gab Winterfield had been hanging out amongst a loose group of collaborators in their hometown having crossed paths in their bands Lost Valentinos and Ghostwood respectively and establishing a friendship. One of those collaborative sessions yielded some compelling results.
"I played him this track, and he really loved it and just started singing over it like, right there in the room. And I was like, 'let's put some vocals on this'.
"We did, and that became 'Come Save Me'".
They made a video to accompany the song, uploaded it to YouTube, then watched as the rave reviews and fan responses took off.
"We kind of just formed the band after that, we were like, 'Well, that worked and it sounds great, let's do that again, let's make a record!'
Released as the first single from their debut album Howlin', it sent fans and pundits into a spin, especially in the UK for its palpable nods to late 80s/early 90s Madchester and Northern soul.
Even an uncharacteristically rapturous Noel Gallagher was spurred to declare the Australian group to be more important than an Oasis reunion, and that the future of the galaxy depended on their records.
Whilst comparisons to The Stone Roses and Primal Scream are warranted, (and Jono Ma sharing a London studio space with producer/DJs Ewan Pearson and the late Andrew Weatherall certainly added heft to those claims), Jagwar Ma's musical influences indicate that Howlin' wasn't just an exercise in reviving Madchester nostalgia.
"It was actually really organic," Ma says of the way the group's sound developed. "It wasn't like 'hey, let's start a band that sounds like this and that'.
"We were listening to a lot of 50s and 60s R'n'B, soul and Motown, and stuff like that, and I guess my history in making and producing music is a lot more electronic based," Ma explained.
Winterfield brought his predilection for shoegaze and 90s indie rock which intersected with Ma's fondness for the Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Joe Meek and Sly and the Family Stone, though they were clever in their approach and with how they wanted to represent those influences on Howlin'.
"We didn't want to just start a 50s revival band, so it became this, 'Let's make modern dance music, but reference that era melodically'.
As an opener 'What Love' fills the brief with gusto.
A furtive guitar and spare drumbeat set the scene as a synth line slithers in from the periphery. A spooky wraith like chant bears down like a hot blast of wind creating an atmosphere thick with mystery and expectation.
'Uncertainty' takes a moreish LCD Soundsystem-inspired synth line and sets it perfectly to a tripped out Screamadelica-era beat, taunting you with the line 'How can ya look so gloomy, when you're gloomy, howlin' look so good to me' coming off like the relentlessly energetic friend who in the wee small hours of the night is still pestering you to stay in the party zone with them.
In fact if you weren't already aware, there is indeed, no leaving the dancefloor until Howlin' is done with you.
There's the jaunty addictiveness and hip shaking 60s swing of tracks like 'That Loneliness' and 'Let Her Go', the sweaty house thumper 'Four' clears a space for itself midway through the album, whilst we hit peak hazy euphoria with 'Man I Need' and 'The Throw', only coming down gently with the languid sway of 'Did You Have To'.
With its washy guitar licks, unhurried beat and what sound like cawing seabirds, the album's penultimate track is, by Ma's admission, a moment of pure nostalgia.
"We kind of wanted it to have this big hip hop feel," he said. "Like, I wanted it to sound like a J Dilla track or something like that. But yeah, I definitely wanted it to have that sun drenched nostalgia, like if you imagine like what Super 8 [film] looks like, like really saturated.
"We kind of wanted this to sound like [how] Super 8 looks when you're watching memories of yourself as a kid playing in a kiddie pool or something like that. So, that's how this track feels."
What remains evident listening to Howlin' is how its tracks are very much saturated with a richness and diversity of sound that bleed, blur and blend in mesmerising ways, offering a listening experience which continue to deliver reliably, exhilarating highs without the regrets of any nasty morning after repercussions.
Delve into the finest records of our time on Double J's Classic Albums. Listen to it here on the ABC listen app.