Like Florence and the Machine's Florence Welch and La Roux's Elly Jackson, Marina Diamandis of Marina and the Diamonds got billed as another up-and-coming quirky British artist. But where Florence and Jackson appeal mainly to an indie-oriented audience, Diamandis has the fearless personality of a true pop superstar: She once dressed in drag to audition for a boy band, voraciously read any Madonna biography she could find as a teen, and (like Lady Gaga's Little Monsters) now refers to her fans as her "diamonds."

Diamandis delivers big candy-coated hooks that match her pop-diva ambitions on her full-length debut The Family Jewels. Working with pop songsmiths Greg Kurstin (Britney Spears, Lily Allen) and Sneaker Pimps' Liam Howe, Diamandis, whose vocals range from a kitten's purr to a Category 5 hurricane, delivers tunes that range from disco-flavored bangers to '80s-style synth-pop numbers — quirky-but-mainstream tunes that'd sound great blasting from the speakers of an American Apparel in Williamsburg or the Mall of America. The best tracks here are "Shampain" — perhaps the most upbeat song ever written about champagne-induced hangovers — and "Oh No!," in which Diamandis fesses up to her chart-topping ambitions. "Don't do love, do do friends, I'm only… read more »