In Brief

*** Wild Colonials, “Fruit of Life,” DGC. You’d never mistake the Wild Colonials for an L.A. band--what with Angela McCluskey’s throaty Scotswoman vocals, and a violin-dominated, Celtic-friendly sound that’s warm even by coffeehouse standards--if you weren’t tipped ahead of time. This largely acoustic debut is invitingly human music, no less so for being a little unformed around the edges.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).