The Magic Numbers

The Magic Numbers' debut has been hotly hyped back home in England. Luckily, the album is a blazing success marked by a bright array of harmonies and earthy orchestration, all delivered in nearly rapturous voices. File somewhere between the Mamas and Papas, the Polyphonic Spree and the Arcade Fire.

London's Magic Numbers are two sets of siblings -- Trinidad-born Romeo and Michele
Stodart and London natives Sean and Angela Gannon -- who've already been showered
with "your-new-favorite-band" acclaim from the British music press. Their debut nearly
lives up to the hype, blending rainy-day folk, shambling indie rock and heartbreak
harmonies into a dog-eared pop record your mother could love. The U.K. hit "Fo... More >

So winsome you want to cuddle 'em, so cutesy you want to smack 'em ("Forever Lost," "Mornings Eleven"). (Grade - *)