Don’t Think You’re the First

Released just a year after their first album, this compact, bewitching second record sees The Coral trade some of the manic invention of their debut for something a touch less hyperactive. Not that the Merseysiders have completely mislaid their ragbag of sonic ideas. Magic & Medicine features everything from Spaghetti Western flute (“Don’t Think You’re The First”) to Bond theme bombast (“Secret Kiss”) and —in “Pass It On”—possibly the world’s only successful attempt to turn the theme of existential impermanence into two minutes of breezy pop perfection.