THERE are one hit wonders and then there’re cult bands, the ones that seemed forever mired in being the critics’ darlings and not much else. Well, they have their cult following, which is likely to dwindle over the course of the band’s under-appreciated career.

The Go-Betweens is one such cult band, probably the most celebrated anonymous group from the ‘80s. Their anonymity happens to be the burden of easy-to-please Top 40 audiences. In terms of radio play, they may have heard only of the band’s signature song, "Streets of My Town," during the heady days of punk and new wave.

Meanwhile, listeners with a keen sense of pop adventure have found something to rejoice about in the Go-Betweens. It’s just unfortunate that back then, these courageous souls must have money to burn because the six albums released by the band during the ‘80s were available only from import shops or as pasalubong from balikbayans. The Australian group disbanded in the ‘90s with the main songwriting duo of Grant McLennan and Robert Forster pursuing solo careers.

They reformed at the turn of the new millennium and delivered three albums over the last five years. The impact of the band’s body of work can be gleaned from the reaction by prominent figures in the other arts. Hollywood actor Edward Norton (Fight Club) requested an advance copy of the new album and burned copies of it for his co-stars on the set of his latest movie. Evan Katz, producer of the hit TV series 24 starring Keiffer Sutherland, is such a huge fan that he has written an entire episode in the latest season around a company named McLennan-Forster.

There’s something heroic about the way McLennan, Forster and company have soldiered on to keep the Go-Betweens around despite operating outside the periphery of public consciousness for most of the band’s existence. Their ninth and latest album, Oceans Apart, is available locally and comes on the heels of various critical accolades in print and on the Web.

Mainstream radio continues to be a major bottleneck thus far, despite the unmistakable pop pull of every track. The sounds on record can be thinly grouped into country rock and neo-country crossover, none of which is the music of the moment. One thing is clear though: the band and their music remain a thrilling trip.

The opening track, "Here Comes A City," is a brisk rocker, a refreshingly novel move from a band known for few pop tunes. The use of travelogue as a metaphor for dislocation between lovers (e.g. Passing churches/Passing stations…Pushing me away from you) is a nifty trick. The next cut, "Finding You," burrows deep into R.E.M. territory but manages to come out distinctly Go-Between. Their injection of neo-country in pop suggests potential hits in such gorgeously smart numbers as "The Statue," "The Night’s For You" and the Neil Young-ish "Darlinghurst Nights." Last track, "The Mountains Near Dellray" is straight-up country worthy of a Bruce Springsteen cover.

The magic lies in the perfect match between the contrasting styles of the chief songsmiths. Grant McLennan is the romantic fool while Robert Forster plays the brooding character. May their quirks never run dry!