HAPPYLAND

In 1996, Janet English of Spiderbait started dating Quan Yeomans of Regurgitator. During downtime from their respective main projects, in 1997 in Brisbane, the pair formed the Shits (later renamed as Happyland) as an art pop side project. As the Shits, English and Yeomans, provided the artwork for Regurgitor's album, 'Unit' (November 1997), at the ARIA Music Awards of 1998, the duo won the Best Cover Art category. Happyland's only album, 'Welcome to Happyland', was released on 25 August 1998 via Polydor Australia, which peaked at #18 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was recorded in Yeomans' home studio and produced by the duo, with all tracks co-written by English and Yeomans. AllMusic's Jody Macgregor opined that "The songs they recorded together combined the most hyper-kinetic and poppy sounds common to the two bands, with English's vocals at their most high-pitched and girlish, and Yeomans' melodies at their most twitchy and infectious." Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane felt it "boasted noisy modern fuzz-pop." At the ARIA Music Awards of 1999, English and Yeomans were nominated for Best Cover Art for 'Welcome to Happyland'.

"Don't You Know Who I Am?", the lead single from the album, peaked at #24 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It was listed at #28 in Triple J's 1998 Hottest 100 music poll, while the follow-up single, "Hello!" (November 1998), was listed at #71. "Hello!", which did not peak in the ARIA Singles Chart top 50, was proposed for Regurgitator's Unit, but it did not fit with the rest of its content. McFarlane described "Hello" as "low-tech but snappy pop." Happyland toured Australia as part of the 1999 Big Day Out music festival, performing at the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide in late January and early February. In their live shows, the band members dressed in fluffy animal costumes. They provided a cover version of the Italian song, "Tintarella di luna" (written by Bruno de Filippi and Franco Migliacci), on the soundtrack for the feature film, Looking for Alibrandi, in 2000. The duo had disbanded in 1999, and each member had returned to their respective main project.

SINGLES
"Don't You Know Who I Am?" (#24) 1998 Polydor
"Hello!" (#79) 1998 Polydor

ALBUMS
'Welcome to Happyland' (#18) 1998 Polydor 

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happyland_(band)