Charming is a four-piece band from Charlottesville, Virginia with a virtual lock on the “doing the reviewer’s job for them” sweepstakes—they really are charming, aren’t they? In their first incarnation, Charming was a fairly straightforward guitar pop band with an inclination towards sounding like Velocity Girl; in those simpler times, the winning group put together Giant, full of little gems like “Mississippi.” Then they promptly vanished.

A couple of years later they resurfaced in New York with new members and disco fever; later tracks like “Downtown” and “Let Me Take You Out” bring the indie funk, which may not sound like a whole lot of funk, but hey, they’re trying. Now taking aim at the likes of Sissybar and Saint Etienne, their old guitar-wielding days seemed behind them for good. Alas, Giant is out of print, and sadly so. Until recently, you couldn’t even find MP3s of it anywhere, except for the first four songs. Thankfully, some time after MP3.com bit the dust for the first time, the band put up the full album on their own site.

Charming are now working on their third album; their second, Champagne and Magazines, seems to be on perpetual special over at Twee Kitten. A steal at that price, really.