NEW YORK -- Australian rockers the Go-Betweens, who released six albums in the 1980s, were dearly loved by rock critics, but they were never exactly "hot." Not in the commercial sense anyway.

But hot is exactly what the Go-Betweens' two singer/songwriters, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, were Tuesday night at the Mercury Lounge, where they kicked off a U.S. tour celebrating their former band's songs, which were recently compiled on the May release, Bellavista Terrace: Best of the Go-Betweens.

Though they faced a loving crowd of Go-Betweens cultists, the duo were sweaty, sticky and just plain uncomfortable. Stage lights and the stuffy heat -- it was 90 degrees outside -- caused Forster to ask for a towel after the first few numbers. He had to settle for a fan's bandana. Forster didn't help his cause by wearing a stylish off-white suit, sans tie.

McLennan, more comfortably attired in casual pants and a short-sleeved button-down shirt, kicked off the two-hour set by singing "The Devil's Eye," from the Go-Betweens' most recent studio album, 16 Lovers Lane (1988). The crowd of about 200 responded with loud cheers, as they did after nearly every song.

Often, the fans were louder than Forster and McLennan, who mostly stuck to strumming simple chords on acoustic guitars with little embellishment and no other accompaniment.

The spare musical setting was ideal for the two 41-year-olds, who have each released several solo albums since the band broke up in 1990. Both are noted for their smart pop songwriting but not particularly for their playing. The bare-bones approach brought out the best in "Bachelor Kisses," "Streets of Your Town" (RealAudio excerpt) and a breathtaking "Cattle and Cane" (RealAudio excerpt), all of which appear on Bellavista Terrace.

"I really thought I'd like the band's sound better, but this was great," 30-year-old Austin Mclean of Ann Arbor, Mich., said. "Some of the songs sound better sort of stripped down."

Neither former Go-Between was a wild showman, but both revealed engaging stage personalities that mirrored their songwriting styles. Though Go-Betweens songs were credited to both, McLennan usually sang the more down-to-earth, folkier tunes. On Tuesday, he was more apt to grin and groove during songs than the darker Forster, who often sang the gloomier, more eccentric tunes and employed a dark wit to poke fun at himself and the crowd.

McLennan finally secured a towel and vigorously scrubbed the sweat off his face between songs, but Forster stuck with the bandana, which he used to prissily dab at his face.

Forster and McLennan, who traded lead vocals all night, stopped playing

crowd favorites for one song. "This is my mother's favorite of all the

songs we've written," Forster said. "This is for you, mum." He then

launched into "People Say" from The Lost Album: '78-'79, a

collection of previously unreleased, early Go-Betweens tunes also issued this year.

The pair also each sang one new song: McLennan's "Magic in Here" and Forster's "He Lives My Life." They sounded like extensions of The Go-Betweens' oeuvre -- dark pop that is musically direct and simple and lyrically literate.

The crowd, making enough noise for a full electric band of their own,

called them back for three encores, giving the pair a chance to draw from

their solo albums. A highlight was Forster's slightly creepy "Danger in

the Past," the title song from his 1990 solo debut. He accentuated the

song with exaggerated gestures and -- for the reserved, reedy-voiced

Forster -- vocal histrionics. He nearly parodied himself and seemed to

know it, eyeing the crowd with a mockingly sinister glare.

Forster and McLennan seemed a bit surprised at the boisterous crowd

response -- as if they'd come to play for each other, and if anyone else

happened to like it, then fine. Perhaps they underestimated their own

live prowess and the enthusiasm of fans who hadn't seen them perform

Go-Betweens songs together in years.

Mclean, who saw them play together in 1991, said, "This was a lot better. It was longer, they were playing with each other rather than backing each other's solo songs, and they really seemed to enjoy playing the old songs."