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Spotlight

The Magic Numbers

The Magic Numbers’ self-titled debut album is like a frayed pair of Levi’s that you tell people you got at a thrift store but really bought pre-beaten at Urban Outfitters: Their music has many elements of ’50s girl group rock and ’60s co-ed folk, but glossed over with high production value and indie/twee pop cheerfulness.

The band’s line-up (two men and two women who happen to be sets of siblings) and predilection for large hippie beards and wide-bottomed trousers alone will call for comparisons to the Mamas and the Papas, but the comparison is apt for more than superficial reasons. Songs like “Love Me Like You” have Mamas and Papas-esque harmonies and there is a generous use of acoustic guitar throughout The Magic Numbers.

What gives the Numbers their Magic is undoubtedly the strange and lilting sound of lead singer Romeo. His high, soft tenor — oddly accented thanks to a mobile childhood spent in Trinidad, New York, and London — sounds like a less-hokey Cat Stevens and makes the lyrics of his warm songs deeply felt. When Romeo sings, “And all of my words were withheld in the hurt” on the violin-laden track “This Love,” his voice strains with emotion held in reserve, wanting to burst loose.

The Magic Numbers will be touring North America later this year. Their debut album will be released in the U.S. on October 4.

The Magic Numbers tour dates:

10/30, Las Vegas, NV (Sam Boyd Stadium, Vegoose Festival)11/1, West Hollywood, CA (Troubadour)11/3, San Francisco, CA, (Popscene)11/5, Portland, OR, (Doug Fir Lounge)11/6, Vancouver, BC (Richards On Richards Cabaret)11/7, Seattle, WA, (Crocodile Caf�)11/11, Minneapolis, MN (Ascot Room @ The Quest)11/12, Chicago, IL (Schubas Tavern)11/14, Nashville, TN (Ryman Auditorium)*11/15, Louisville, KY (W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre)*11/16, Athens, GA (Georgia Theatre)*11/17, Asheville, NC (Thomas Wolfe Auditorium)*11/18, Washington, DC (DAR Constitution Hall)*11/19, Philadelphia, PA (Academy of Music)*11/20, Portland, ME (Merrill Auditorium at City Hall)*11/21, Buffalo, NY (Center for the Arts-SUNY Buffalo)*11/22, Worcester, MA (The Palladium)*11/23 Concord, NH (Capitol Center for the Arts)*11/25-26, Jersey City, NJ (Loews Theatre)*11/28, New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom)11/29, Boston, MA (Great Scott)12/1, Toronto, ONT (Lees Palace)(* – supporting Bright Eyes and Feist)

The Magic Numbers official site