The Coral

The Coral are a gang of Merseyside cowboys running roughshod over British pop, carelessly breaking musical boundaries and confounding expectations on a song-by-song basis. Confusingly they burst onto the scene with "I Still Need You," a song that suggested a Stax infatuation, with a video that recalled the glory days of Madness. An eponymous debut album reveals far stranger delights, though. James Skelly's vocals may recall Echo & The Bunnymen and even the La's, but it's the spirit of the Doors, Captain Beefheart and Merseybeat that rise up when the six-piece plays (except when they start with the sea shanties, of course). Magic And Medicine in 2004 showed them more determined than ever to fly high without a safety net.