Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros can't exactly slip into an office building unnoticed: Clad in the same clothes they'd worn at a concert the night before, the L.A. band's 10 ragtag misfits would have fit in far more seamlessly at, say, Burning Man. Seeming to exist in a blissed-out alternate universe — during the wonderful "Home," singer Jade Castrinos exclaims, "Good morning, everybody!" as the clock behind her reads 2:10 p.m. — this is a band whose performances beg to be seen as well as heard, not to mention shot through a wide-angle lens.
Surrounded by a whopping eight backing players — at 10 members, this is the biggest band ever to play a Tiny Desk Concert in the NPR Music offices — singers Alex Ebert and Castrinos still find a way to command attention, as they trade vocals amid a warm, shambling concoction of keyboards, percussion, guitars, accordion, trumpet and more. Playing three songs from their debut album (Up From Below), they have little trouble re-creating its intoxicating mix of catchiness and goodwill, even if they had to wake up early to make it happen.
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