If you’ve witnessed a Polish Club live show, you’ll know the Sydney pair — David Novak and John-Henry Pajak — are not ones to hold back. It’s a sentiment that has chased their upwards trajectory; their debut record ‘Alright Already’ was nominated for Best Rock Album at last year’s ARIAs, selected as a Triple J feature album, and backed up by a national tour with 13 sold-out dates. To polish off the year, they embarked on a ‘Christmas in December’ tour, hit the road with The Preatures, and released a surprise ‘Okie Dokie’ EP.

The boys’ output has been lauded for its unbridled approach to retro rock, and the soul and funk references channelled by the genre’s architects of the early ’70s. Ahead of the lads’ first European shows, and Factory Theatre takeover in Sydney — complete with five-piece horn section FYI — we had David fill us in on his top five records.

Michael Jackson — ‘Off The Wall’

“”Def use ‘Off The Wall’,” said JH. And, look, it’s hard to disagree with him. This album is wall-to-wall (lol) horns at full blast. Not only is it arguably the best horns album ever, it’s arguably the best album ever. Period. Fight me. If it weren’t for the horrible pan-flute synth-drenched “Girlfriend”, the album would be damn near flawless. Honestly, who needs a fake woodwind when you have those sexy, sexy horns?! I guess even MJ was human. Ironically, MJ didn’t really play with a live horns section, though I suppose that is understandable when you consider how ludicrously fast the below live version of “Working Day And Night” is.”

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The Gulag Orkestar — ‘Beirut’ “While everyone and their dog was making either garage-rock and/or synth-laden indie rock bangers in the US around 2006, Zach Condon made a Balkan folk album in Santa Fe that was unlike anything else coming from that part of the world around then. “Postcards From Italy” is probably the only song I’ll voluntarily listen to that involves a ukulele, and that’s a massive achievement in itself.” ﻿ Earth, Wind & Fire — ‘I Am’ “It’s so hard to pick an album by EWF, even with the restriction of horn-based ones. They’re all amazing and have some of the most iconic horn parts ever recorded. But, take the first 10 seconds of “Can’t Let Go” and “Boogie Wonderland”, and you know that ‘I Am’ is the top choice. Iconic and irresistible.” ﻿ Har Mar Superstar — ‘Bye Bye 17’ “This one is a bit of a guilty pleasure, or rather it’s less iconic than others on this list, but just give the intro to “Prisoner” a listen and try not to dance. This was a low-key album released by talismanic indie pop dude Har Mar Superstar, and it’s damn good. But, more than anything, I love it because it’s nice to know that someone can still go “fuck it, I’m writing a catchy soul album” out of nowhere and pull it off.” ﻿ Avalanche — ‘Quadron’ “A lesson in restraint and class, this is the aural equivalent of butter. The whole thing flows so well and is so goddamn smooth. This is how you do modern soul. Everything is so well balanced. There’s a little bit of electronica in there, a little hip hop and when the horns are used, they’re used sparingly but effectively. Sometimes it’s a trombone as a bassline, sometimes horns accent with percussion and sometimes they follow the chorus vocal hook. It’s all so goddamn tasteful and sexy. Also Coco O’s voice is one of the best I’ve ever heard.”

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Catch Polish Club’s visceral live set at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel on Saturday 7 July, and then at Sydney’s Factory Theatre, supported by Horns, Sweater Curse and All Our Exes, on Saturday July 14.

In the meantime, you can jam out to ‘Alright Already’ here: