Kate sings, Jadey plays piano. It's Jane Vs World. Their debut EP is called 56k Hearts, with the title referring to the dial-up modem speed. The songs are about Internet love, early-life crises, bad poetry, favourite books and boys.

"Boys are cool," Kate says, "apart from the ones we write songs about."

Kate and Jadey met on the Net. Recovering from a break-up, Kate poured her heart into her Live Journal. Her interests – including Ben Folds Five, Fountains Of Wayne and Letters To Cleo – were linked to an entry by a Brisbane girl. The clincher was American singer-songwriter Brendan Benson.

"Jadey's Live Journal had a photo of her holding some Brendan Benson vinyl she'd just bought on eBay," Kate recalls. "I thought, 'That's so cool!'"

Kate and Jadey started chatting on MSN. It led to a five-hour phone call, during which Jadey played Kate some of her songs, and Kate played Jadey some of her songs. "I want to start a band with you!" Kate said. "Okay," Jadey replied, "I'll move to Melbourne."

Jadey completed her university thesis on power pop, relocated to Melbourne, and Jane Vs World was born. They recorded 56k Hearts in Sydney at Love Hz Studios with pop god Michael Carpenter and Butterfly 9's Matt Fell. "It was like we were on school camp," Jadey recalls. "And because neither of us knows how to cook, the food was just as bad as school camp."

Kate and Jadey had an $80 food budget for their two weeks in Sydney. They lived on tomato and cheese sandwiches. And their accommodation was infested by bed bugs. "But it was so much fun," Kate says. "On the first day, Jadey got on the piano and started playing a Jellyfish song. Matt said, 'That's a sign that everything is going to be good.' And he was right. It was a fantastic experience."

The result is a poptastic collection of half-a-dozen hits that will put a smile on your face and have you humming for days. Plus the best kazoo solo you'll find on any record this year!

Now, with a Jane Vs World live band behind them, Kate and Jadey are out to conquer the world – and get back at the boys who have broken their 56k hearts.

One thing's for sure, they're no-one's B-Grade Lisa Loeb. Look out world, here comes Jane!

Tracklisting:
1) B-grade Lisa Loeb
2) I Used To Write Bad Poetry
3) Boy From Canada
4) Sebastian Says
5) The Subterraneans
6) This Song Is About You

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Kate Duncan and Jadey O'Regan's indiepop album has the chirpy teen-adult sound of some 1960s girl groups -- they made me think of The Angels singing "My Boyfriend's Back" -- but their subject matter is specific and modern. The Canadian friend Duncan sings about in "Boy From Canada" and Sebastian in "Sebastian Says" sound like real people, not the generic everyboys that sometimes crop up in lyrics. "I told you about what's in Vegemite," she sings in "Boy From Canada." "You said that it was totally gross and foul / Boy from Canada is kinda cool. / We met on the net last year.../ I've waited online for the past half hour." They sing about the internet in such a matter-of-fact way, that by the end of 56k Hearts I was wondering why more musicians don't do the same. We know that bands have blogs and message boards. When are more of them going to be willing to work "lol" into a lyric? And when they do, will it sound as cute and giddy as this? And will it come with na na nas?

Deanne Sole
www.popmatters.com

Take the vim and vigor of Bis, a respect for power pop and girl group traditions, and lyrics that manage to be bitingly clever and winningly innocent at the same time, and you get some idea of what Jane vs. World is onto. Singer Kate Duncan and keyboardist Jadey O'Reagan have a winning happy quality that sometimes reminds me of Vancouver cuddlecoresters cub, though JvW are nerdier -- and proud of it! However, beneath the mismatched clothes and dayglo colors, there is a secret that is revealed; Kate Duncan has one hell of a voice. She is often out of control, but that's part of the attitude -- you have to sing numbers like "B-grade Lisa Loeb" aggressively, with great lines like "And I thought we could put a record on/Ben Folds Five or maybe even The Who/but you said that they weren't emo enough for you." Yes, catchy tunes and smart words crop up on every track.

O'Regan's English studies pay off on her paean to Jack Kerouac, "The Subterranean", a tale of heading to San Francisco with Jack and Dean. Jack exclaims "Man, we're gonna make it/doesn't matter what they say/punctuation is overrated." Ha! The tracks seem to alternate from the prototypical fizzy new wave energy to a couple of bouncy piano numbers more in the vein of the aforementioned Mr. Folds, like "I Used to Write Bad Poetry" (because "I grew to learn I need some indie cred/and now I write bad songs instead") and "The Subterraneans". Ably abetted by producers Michael Carpenter and Matt Fell, I hope that Jane vs. World continues to develop their melodic abilities, as Duncan has so much potential, without losing their overabundance of personality and intelligence.

Mike Bennet www.fufkin.com

EP’s rule, ok? For a busy guy like myself 6-songs ep’s (like this) are perfect plus it seems like these days fewer and fewer bands can write an entire record filled with NO FILLER. Jane vs. the World have done just that so other bands, please take notice. JVSW is Kate (on vocals, who used to be in Sarah Sarah) and her pal Jadey (who plays piano) and they even get Aussie power-popper Michael Carpenter to play drums and co-produce this ! Anywho, this is completely upbeat pop with lyrics about either busted relationships (“B-Grade Lisa Loeb”) or longing (“Boy from Canada”). Most of the songs have that rollicking piano and the cheerful vocals (especially “Sebastian Says”) and the songs are impossible not to like (unless you’re an asshole) so just get this now and thank me later.

Dagger Stare fanzine

Presenting themselves as the perfect cardie-sporting geek girls, Kate Duncan and Jadey Regan are the perfect antidote to the Avril Lavignes of the world, with more hooks than a longline trawler and the wit and intelligence to fill the puff pastry with some of the cleverest lines you'll hear outside of the B-52s and Ben Folds. The Look might be /B-Grade Lisa Loeb/ but she didn't know how to (tongue firmly in cheek) emo with so much wry flippancy, and who couldn't forgive a girl who writes bad poetry when she writes such crystalline pop melodies. It's all there in six three to four minute gems - books, boys, blogs and bad poetry - great harmonies, pure poptastic fun.

Michael Smith Drum Media

The duo known as Jane Vs World are so Melbourne it hurts – all you’ve got to do is look at the cover of their debut and the proof is in the fashion. They’re got cardigans, they’ve got scarves, they’ve got funky lookin’ glasses. Thankfully, they’ve also got tunes.

Opener “B-Grade Lisa Loeb” is the perfect novelty pop hit waiting to happen – boys listening to Dashboard, unfulfilled expectations of what you should and shouldn’t be like, and more ‘woah woah’ moments than fisherman have hooks.
The sweet vocals of Kate Duncan and Jadey O’Regan work so well throughout this debut EP that you’d think these girls have been performing together since birth. While the Veronicas have attracted plenty of attention thanks to their diminutive and demure nature (not to mention their willingness to sell out to Swedish pop svengali Max Martin), 56k Hearts is very an independent affair.

The natural melodies found in songs like “Boy From Canada” can’t be taught; it’s instinctual and natural. The jaunty “The Subterraneans” is melodically similarly in structure to early Ben Folds Five, and while Jane Vs World are fairly one-tempo-ed throughout this debut EP, this is a very good beginning indeed.

Andrew Weaver

Jane Vs World is a two piece group based between Melbourne and the Gold Coast. Their music is piano based pop with lots of cute harmonies and hooks. Their debut EP ‘56K Hearts’ is six tracks of pop rockin’ fun. The ladies tackle important issues on this disc like the strains of internet love (Boy from Canada) and not being emo enough (B-Grade Lisa Loeb). This EP has the happiest songs you’ll ever hear outside Sesame St but what stops Jane VS World from sounding sickly sweet is the quirky sense of humor. The lyrics have a cheeky edge to them and the lyrics are very clever. The recording is fantastic quality and each song is a special pop-tastic treat! The group recently signed deals to ensure Australia wide distribution of their EP through Shock so look out for 56K Hearts in stores near you soon!

Reviewed by Luke Reichelt

Remember Shampoo from the mid’90s? Replace the trashy glam image with the kind of a bespectacled, nerdy-looking, cardigan-wearing pair of teenage girls, put them in the studio with an all-round pop-wiz (Michael Carpenter), let them write some insanely catchy tunes with witty, Fountains of Wayne-like lyrics, and you’ll get pretty close to the strategy of Jane vs.World. Among the six chewy little bubblegummish instant pop gems, my faves are the upbeat power-popin’ pair of “Sebastian says” and “B-grade Lisa Loeb”, which it definitely isn’t (!), and the Tilbrook/Difford-through-Jellyfish-sounding pair of “I used to write bad poetry” and “The subterraneans”, and all this recorded without a single guitar (!), which is being replaced with the heavy use of keyboards, glockenspiel and kazoo.

It doesn’t seem as they if they will conquer the world they’re against, but they’re sure having quite a good time, which they’re likely to pass on to you too.
Goran Obradovic / POPISM radio show

Twee often walks the line between cute-as-a-button and so-cloyingly-cute-I-want-to-strangle-you--with-your-mitten-strings. Jane Vs World test the threshold of cuteness in their deliriously happy piano-driven pop and come out sounding just fine.
A young Australian duo that has some serious musical talent in a genre that often downplays technical skills, Jadey play a mean piano and the girls excel at heavenly harmonies. The compositions feature smatterings of fairly advanced chord changes that one associate's with sophisticated pop music. All six songs on 56k Hearts are very well-crafted pop gems.

Lyrically speaking, this is straight up teeny cuteness without a great deal of resonance to older listeners – songs titles like "I Used To Write Bad Poetry", and "Boy From Canada" might give an indication of the subject matter: mainly boys and the trials and travails of a growing up twee. "The Subterraneans" provides a charmingly youthful diversion into the world of Jack Kerouac.
Lyrical wince-factor for older listeners aside , pop fans will love Jane Vs World's candy-coated pop.

Gordon B. Isnor http://www.lefthip.com/review_detail.php?reviewID=303

Tremble, world - nerd-pop has arrived among us! Kate Duncan and Jadey O’Regan are Jane Vs World, two unassuming little creatures who’ll regale you with stories of how insensitive boys can be - especially ones from Canada who you meet online!
This EP serves up six slices of geeky pop heaven, dropping in such marks of lyrical genius as spelling out shorthand internet lingo (LOL, BRB etc) and referencing livejournals and such.

Not loving this record would be like tying up your iDog in a sack and punting it into the river, seriously. It’s infectiously catchy.

(BM) www.timeoff.com.au

Playing upbeat bubblegummy pop that is as cute as buttons, the girls in Jane vs World are sure to turn lots of folks OFF. In general, pretentious underground music snobs DO NOT want to hear upbeat happy pop. These girls are about as happy and upbeat as you can get. As for our own peculiar tastes...we LOVE THIS...! Playing sing songy pop with genuine spirit, Kate Duncan and Jadey O'Regan's songs sound something like a cross between Ben Folds, Shonen Knife, and The Muffs. These girls aren't the least bit shy about being as clever and cute as humanly possible. Their effervescent pop tunes feature smart hooks and perpetually honest lyrics. It's a truly upbeat bubblegum world these girls are living in. 56k Hearts is instantly groovy and totally infectious. Killer tracks include "B-Grade Lisa Loeb," "Sebastian Says," and "This Song Is About You." Can't wait to hear more from these talented Australian ladies... (Rating: 5++)

Man, a female Klinger. A female They Might Be giants. The high pitched voices, a barrage of cutesy pop keyboards, the contagious melodies, the continual wahs, do doo's, bah, bah, bhbabababa's and songs about boys, emo songs, broken hearts, pop culture, lead inexorably to a bouncy red cordial mixed with speed and a couple of beers, gracious-pop. no, really B-Grade Liza Loeb is gold. Pure, tongue in cheek pop, gold.

Beat Magazine 2/11/05

Taking the prize for Song Title That Speaks For Itself away from Neil Young's Piece Of Crap, B-Grade Lisa Loeb is a toe-curlingly twee slab of hooray-for-everything polyester fluff - with a kazoo solo. B-side The Subterraneans wants to sound like every Ben Folds/Adam Schlesinger/Kay Hanley ever, but it lacks the bittersweet spark that makes those songwriters so great. This is just sweet, like rubbing a paste made with Slurpee syrup and sugar into your gums - not especially good for you and with a momentary guilty buzz that fades quickly into stomach churning nausea. The kind of crazy-making nausea that makes you want to slowly peel the skin off a still-living indie kid. Soon, soon..

The actual title of the track is enough of a giveaway but, in case you still hadn’t caught on, Melbourne duo Jane Vs World (featuring ex-Sarah Sarah vocal gal Kate Duncan) love their pop music and, more than that, take great pleasure in presenting you with their unashamedly over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek pop approach. While lead track ‘B-Grade Lisa Loeb’ from their forthcoming debut EP is certainly by numbers, it’s injected with the right amount of humour, upbeat energy and pisstaking observations towards emo/indie dudes to make it something that even the most discerning of listeners will find difficult to resist tapping their foot along to. Even if you’re not a big fan of this style in general, just hearing something that obviously has the intention of putting a smile on your face is worth it. Enjoy a slice of infectious pop pie, shamelessly.

Steph Edwardes

I once had a chance to hang backstage with Lisa Loeb. By a remarkable twist of luck it turned out she and her band were Christians and consequently didn't drink ( I thought Jesus turned water into wine?) so I got to have as much of her rider as I liked/could manage. I have had warm feelings towards her ever since -so I will brook no criticism. On the other hand Jane vs World are kind of like an amped up Lisa Loeb anyway no matter what they say darling little indie children filled with happiness, freedom and the desire to wear 'unconventional' clothes bought at out of the way op shops whilst touring country towns. How could you not love them and the indie pop that flows effortlessly from their little indie hands? God love them and everyone in their cardigan wearing world!

Brag Magazine 25/10/05