If Vlad the Impaler were still around, I'm pretty sure they'd be saying the same thing about his whole art and its aesthetic. Vlad was a man before his time, whereas there is little doubt that Mark Lang – singer, guitarist, songwriter, graphic designer and aesthetics guru – is living in his.

When I first received this package, I mistakenly thought it had been purloined from a nearby library, such is the extent of the artwork/packaging that encompasses the “buzz”. Initially, I was going to wade into what I saw as excessive over-hype – until the main man himself took time to explain the rationale behind it.

I can relate to Mark Lang's interest in how music used to be presented as art in the vinyl days. Back then, perusing a record store had a certain tactile pleasure that has since been eradicated by the plethora of tacky, plastic uniformity that today passes for CDs.

Regardless of the hype and buzz, Mark Lang and SGV have a plan and have persevered as a collective to see it through. On that count alone, they ought to be congratulated for striving to break the tedium of sterile merchandising. Enough said.

So after you have actually found the CD itself – embedded in library bag, tri-fold (old-bookish) cover 'n' all, with cute ageing and traditional library borrowing ticket – you can finally get down to the business of listening.

SGV and Mark Lang are easy to listen to; mellow was the word they used to use at the butt end of the ’60s. There are trace elements that remind me of Coldplay, maybe Edwyn Collins too – again, an Australian band that sound distinctly English.

“One Chance”, the opening track, sets the playlist tone, followed by the title track “Sift the Noise”. “Wandered” is a delightful reminiscence, while “Here Comes the Lies” and “Drove for Miles” might in some way relate to the entire journey the production of this album took.

My only complaint was the shortness of the tracks, each of which might seem to a cynic to have been deliberately written and recorded to radio-slot length.

However, that doesn't mean this album and band won't find a loyal niche following. Perhaps in the future Mark Lang will follow in Vlad's footsteps and himself pop a few heads on stakes (metaphorically) and go harder and faster at it. There's little doubt he has the talent to do so. --Popboomerang/Secret Fox/MGM, $29.95