The story of Dunedin band Sneaky Feelings is currently being told in two ways – a 22 track Flying Nun CD and a book by the band’s guitarist, Matthew Bannister. Both are well-crafted, literate excursions into the world of Dunedin ‘80s pop, and both are conveniently titled Positively George Street.

Sneaky Feelings recorded three albums and a handful of EPs and singles for Flying Nun after making their debut alongside the Chills, Verlaines and the Stones on the landmark Flying Nun release of 1982, the Dunedin Double EP.

They were unique amongst the Dunedin bands. There were jangly guitars aplenty, particularly on early CD highlights like "Won’t Change" from 1984’s Send You album, but Sneaky Feelings were unafraid of writing blue-eyed soul like 1987 single "Coming True", or even referencing Al Green on "Hard Love" from their last album, 1989’s Hard Love Stories.

This band was serious about its songwriting craft. In his Positively George Street album liner notes, William Dart points out the band’s name was "almost a confession of their musical tactics – the sneaky skill they had for getting their catchy and often subversive pop songs to worm their way into your conciousness." All four members wrote and sang on their records, contributing to what Dart calls a "range and subtle stylistic play in these 22 songs".

Positively George Street traces the highlights in Sneaky Feelings’ Flying Nun output in loosely reverse chronological order, book-ended by two tracks recorded posthumously in 1992 for the CD reissue of Send You. The band’s most successful – and still most affecting – single "Husband House" (a top 20 hit in 1985) and its horn-powered follow-up "Better Than Before" form the compilation’s centrepiece.

Some judicious re-mixing – not to mention careful baking of the original crumbling analogue tapes – has lifted a number                                              of tracks out of the murk occasionally imposed  by budget pressures on Flying Nun album sessions of the 1980’s to give the compilation a fresher and lively sound.

In their typically understated way, Sneaky Feelings almost opted to call this compilation "it’s okay to have feelings". But Positively George Street, with its allusive blend of Bob Dylan and Dunedin, says more.

And besides, its 22 songs are a reminder that it was more than okay – it is an absolute pleasure to have Sneaky Feelings and their music still with us.