The Coral

The Coral's second album is assured and filled with proper tunes that run the gamut from winsome folk pop to blustery British Invasion-styled R&B. Its nods to Dylan, the Doors and Beefheart are blatant, but the Coral's nouveau psychedelia, with its skittery tempo changes and soulful grace -- is getting harder to resist.

A contemporary version of Nuggets, the Sixties garage-psych-rock compilation series,
might well include a song from British band the Coral. But it wouldn't be a song from this
album. Like so many of the flower-power rockers they emulate on Magic and Medicine, the
Coral seem to have run out of material after they recorded their debut. Whereas their first
CD, 2002's The Coral, folded an unexpected Eastern European folk-music vibe int... More >