The Divinyls are not a "safe" band. This Australian quintet's sound is loud and hard edged, as purely physical as any metal band but tempered with the sort of swaggering rowdiness that typifies other Sydney bands like Rose Tattoo or Midnight Oil. Such unrestrained energy is usually enough on its own to make radio programmers and other commissars of commercial consumption wary; add singer Christina Amphlett, whose deranged onstage demeanor seems to be perfectly reflected in a voice that swings from a schoolgirl's trill to a harridan's growl, and you're left with a package that, on the surface, seems utterly unsalable.

Despite all that, or maybe even because of it, What a Life! is an irresistible album. Obviously, part of its appeal comes from Mike Chapman's work as producer; he sees to it that the band's melodic sense is carefully cultivated, with every song snaking along on a latticework of high-energy hooks. But the album isn't all calculated restraint, either, for the Divinyls positively roar through the likes of "Don't You Go Walking," "Casual Encounter" and "Dear Diary." If anything, the album strikes the perfect balance between pop craft and musical muscle, revealing a passion all too rare in recent rock.

Amphlett is, of course, essential to that emotional impact, at times seeming almost possessed by the songs she sings. "In My Life," for example, takes a bitterly ironic view of the possible means of advancement out of the lower classes. Yet even as she screams, "Modeling schools and training schools, finishing schools ... such advantages!" with her voice dripping sarcasm, she still invests a sort of idiot glee in the chorus: "Never much happening in my life." Similarly, there's a cold fury to "Casual Encounter" that, even as it shreds the gambits of the pickup artist she addresses, acknowledges that carnal desire is a two-way street.

Although the most affecting moments come when the band cuts loose – the raveup ending of "Don't You Go Walking," for instance – there are some strikingly straightforward melodies here, particularly "Sleeping Beauty" and the dangerously addictive single, "Pleasure and Pain." True, not even those songs go so far as to make the Divinyls seem safe; on the other hand, risk has rarely seemed as attractive as on What a Life! (RS 461)

J.D. CONSIDINE