One of life’s continuing mysteries is why Alphabeat can’t catch a break here in the States. Neither of the Danish pop group’s albums, This Is Alphabeat (2007) and The Beat Is… (2009, aka The Spell), have been released here, available only as import. And a remix they did of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” (Alphabeat were the opening act on the UK stops of her Monster Ball tour) made the cut for the Japanese and Canadian versions of Gaga’s The Remix, but not the U.S. release. However, you can dial up their take separately via iTunes.

I first posted about Alphabeat back in March 2008, and while the band has built a small, fervent U.S. fanbase anxious to see them do well here, we’re also impatiently waiting for them to return the love. I don’t know the particulars of licensing and label deals, but I do know that audiences on this side of the Atlantic are being deprived of some fantastically catchy pop music (besides brief stops earlier this year at SXSW and in NYC). Alphabeat’s exuberant sound recalls the same ’80s and ’90s sources that Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and others are mining to ridiculously successful effect these days.

The band just released a video for “Heat Wave,” the fourth single to be taken from The Beat Is… (overseas, anyway). It’s one of those “on the road to a festival gig” clips that seem to be all the rage these days (see Robyn’s latest). Anyway, listen to “Heat Wave,” and tell me Alphabeat’s tune isn’t at least as good as Perry’s melt-your-popsicle “California Gurls,” if not besting it outright.

In their shared quest to bring back the days of Ace of Base, it does seem that Alphabeat perhaps possesses an unfair advantage over Perry, since both bands are Scandinavian. But with tunes this good, I’m willing to make room for all. Hear here:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Alphabeat were to tour with Katy Perry last year, before the band backed out to work on their album.

Purchase a reasonably priced import of Alphabeat’s The Beat Is… via Amazon.