The Coral

Thanks to their knack for crafting sneakily good hooks, the jangling interplay of the guitars, and James Skelly's powerful vocals, the Coral are one of the most consistently enjoyable and unpredictable bands of their era. Their rambunctious sound deftly mixes elements of '60s garage rock, psychedelic pop, and folk-rock, spicing it with bits of Merseybeat, Motown, vintage blues, and even sea shanties. The band's 2002 self-titled debut album topped the U.K. charts, and even as their sound evolved over the years, taking detours to spooky folk on 2004's Nightfreak and the Sons of ...