The Magic Numbers: The Magic Numbers : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

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 "Forever Lost" shows off the Magic Numbers' combination of craft and insouciance, setting a caffeinated groove against a gorgeously harmonized slo-mo chorus and Romeo's depressed croon. The equally charming "Long Legs" sounds like the Strokes covering the Grease soundtrack (a good thing!), bubbling over with jangly guitars, countryish melodies and oooh-ahhh backing vocals. Cheeseball preciousness weighs down slower numbers such as "This Love," but when they're firing on all cylinders, the Magic Numbers treat their record collections like Romeo treats the idea of true love: as a source of wide-eyed wonder and a reason to get out of bed.