Toploader - Onkas Big Moka (2000)

The sounds of the '70s have had a mystical and enduring hold over popular music, and with Toploader's debut homage to the funk, rock, and psychedelic era, there's little sign of its grasp loosening. Given Joseph Washborn's gravely vocal charms (think Jamiroquai's Jay Kay singing Black Crowes songs), the stripped down Stevie Wonder style of "High Flying Bird," and the rock tones of Lenny Kravitz on "Breathe" and "Future," this is no bad thing. Onka's Big Moka, the oddly titled debut from Eastbourne, England's finest quartet, may not be pushing any musical boundaries, but with the gloriously uplifting "Let the People Know," the sublimely emotional outpouring of the soul that is "Achilles Heel," and the light-footed and incredibly cute party piece "Dancing in the Moonlight," it's a flawless exercise in piano bashing and guitar pop. --Dan Gennoe