“Hey, d’you remember that night when you told me, ‘You know, you’re pretty good, but you’re no Ray Davies’?” asks You Am I lead singer Tim Rogers, with raised eyebrow and a sly grin, before cuffing me on the shoulder, laughing like a drain, and spluttering, “I’ll always remember that…”

To try and make amends for this gaffe, from a draughty vantage point roughly 4,000 miles east of your good self, this whinging pom would like to take a few minutes of your valuable (drinking) time to reflect upon why Australia is one lucky-assed country to have a band like You Am I warming their cockles, nursing their broken hearts, and sound-tracking the downing of a schooner (or three).

Since 1992, You Am I have bagged seven ARIAs, set a record for three consecutive straight-in-at-No. 1 albums in Australia (Hi-Fi Way, Hourly Daily, No. 4 Record), attracted legions of adoring fans, sound-tracked two movies (Idiot Box, Dirty Deeds), picked up some heavyweight admirers/touring partners (Oasis, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth), been asked to gig with their idols (The Who, The Rolling Stones), given foreign artists their first widespread exposure downunder (The Strokes, The Detroit Cobras, The Dirtbombs), AND inspired a host of Australian bands to do things their own damn way (Silverchair, Jet, The Vines, The Sleepy Jackson, Wolfmother, Dallas Crane, etc, etc). Well, that ain’t too shabby, for starters…