My recommendations 2006:From the Cliffs EP by Guillemots

Guillemots: From the Cliffs EP
Fantastic Plastic 3/14/2006

There are times when it's a real drag living in the United States. Not only do we have the shitty political climate of the last six years, but we also have to wait for albums that the rest of the world gets to enjoy months before they are released here. I have been drooling over a number of such albums that are not schedules for domestic release until early 2007: Lily Allen, Jarvis Cocker, I'm From Barcelona and Guillemots. Luckily, while I'm waiting for Guillemots' debut, Through the Windowpane, to arrive stateside, I have this lovely EP to tide me over. Guillemots go big on everything, so big in fact that all their song titles should be written with exclamation points. Not since Wham! have we seen such opulent and over-the-top arrangements from a pop band with so few members. Even The Polyphonic Spree, with its billion or so members, come up short in terms of both grandeur and quality when compared to Guillemots.