They really do rule the world

I forgot about Empire of the Sun when I wrote my ode to Melbourne bands who are big in NYC. I was a big fan of Pnau in the 'Sambanova' days when I first started uni and everyone in Melbourne was nuts for electronica and we all wore Royal Elastics and Mooks was our boutique du jour. Then when I graduated and moved to Western Australia, I listened to a lot of The Sleepy Jackson (and Little Birdy) and loved the prodigiously talented Steele siblings, Katy and Luke. Now I'm in NYC and every second Hummer that cruises down the Bowery is blasting Empire of the Sun, that psychedelic combination of Luke Steele from The Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore from Pnau. I used to think Steele was becoming Australia's very own Roy Orbison, with his incredible voice and penchant for black suits and dark glasses, but now he's more like a chubby David Bowie in the Ziggy Stardust era. These guys are responsible for decent dance music being played on commercial radio, and they make rad clips.