Magic & Medicine

Shocking news, pop fans – it would appear that the influence of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera has bypassed Scallies the Coral completely. As for The Stone Roses, Oasis, Radiohead and pretty much all guitar bands post 1980, well, it’s fair to say the Coral (average age: 20) sound utterly oblivious to their existence.

Here’s what cannot be denied. The Coral are great musicians – every track on this album is executed with flair and skill and invested with a woozy charm. The band may draw from a smorgasbord of influences and genres, but their jaunty, peculiarly English tone unifies the album and grants it an inner coherency. The best songs here are the most conventionally structured. On ‘Bill McCai’, the Coral sing of a man who decides to hang himself, his family finding out only when they sit down to watch the television that night. Grim stuff, you’d think, but in fact, the rabble-rousing chorus of “Bye, bye, Bill McCai!” turns the whole tune into a rather jolly affair. Single ‘Pass It On’ also impresses, while the sweetly gentle ‘Leizah’ proves another minor gem.

Throughout the album, the Coral sound like a band who are in it for the long haul. Even if the reviews, the interviews and the hype stopped tomorrow, you get the feeling that these guys would still be brewing up a musical storm in their local town of Hoylake.

Fingers crossed, their best is yet to come.