Taxiride’s 1999 debut made no bones about its bid for regular radio rotation. Imaginate’s first three tracks represented its first three singles, with lead single “Get Set” instantly finding a home on the airwaves—and charts—despite, curiously, opening with a sitar-and-tabla homage to George Harrison’s transformative experiences in northern India. Sitar motifs recur throughout, announcing rather than detracting from Taxiride’s not-so-secret weapon of mass appeal: lusciously involved four-part harmonies, lit most brightly by vocalist Jason Singh. The subject of a major-label bidding prior to Imaginate’s release, the pressure was indeed on for the Melbourne quartet to approach something as big as—or hopefully bigger than—The Beatles. To this end, the form Imaginate’s 13 tracks consistently take is that of a garage band with boy-band sensibilities. It’s a wholesome balancing act struck through with enough emotional edge to imbue melancholic piano ballads like “Let Me Die Young” and especially “Counting Down the Days” with Elton John-esque gravitas. Working closely with renowned producer Jack Joseph Puig, too, meant that a certain amount of contemporary American flair found its way into the likes of the dramatic, Goo Goo Dolls-brand waltz “Let’s Spend the Night”—hinting at Taxiride’s tendency toward hand-waving hooks that would push their 2002 follow-up, Garage Mahal, even further into the commercial limelight.