If this is the beginning, let there be no end.

Since its release down south in the summer of last year, The Beginning Stages of ... The Polyphonic Spree has amassed a landslide of acclaim and ink.

And deservedly so, as we can now discover for ourselves, thanks to Canadian distribution.

Led by former Tripping Daisy member Tim DeLaughter, the 20-plus-piece choral symphonic pop band has created a gloriously harmonious exploration of sonic euphoria that sounds like early Mercury Rev meets the Langley Schools Music Project.

Like Rev, they throw everything onto the expansive horizon-sized campus -- gongs, flutes, piccolo, bells, trumpet, cello, moog -- except, instead of letting the joy explode in rage and cacophony before reining it back in again, The Polyphonic Spree keep the innocence and ride the warmth of the sunshine all the way through to the end.

Even the album-closer, a simplistic instrumental that's like a 36-minute meditation on Laurie Anderson's O Superman and the final sustained note of A Day in the Life, contains an incredible amount of calming and beauty in its epic repetitiveness.

As far as debuts go, The Beginning Stages of ... couldn't possibly get any better.

Truly one for the ages.

Track Listing
1. Have A Day/Celebratory
2. It's The Sun
3. Days Like This Keep Me Warm
4. La La
5. Middle Of The Day
6. Hanging Around The Day (Part 1)
7. Hanging Around The Day (Part 2)
8. Soldier Girl
9. Light And Day Reach For The Sun
10. A Long Day