Film School first made an impact in the UK with a series of live performances in London in 2004. Signed to Beggars late last year, they are now in prime position to begin an assault on the UK market. And if you'd like to judge a book by its cover, then on this occasion feel free - the album's artwork of strikingly coloured poppy blooms on a dark background is a perfect visual representation of the band's music.

First impressions of the San Francisco quintet are extremely good, of a confident outfit who know exactly what they're doing but aren't going to let themselves get backed into a stylistic corner. An edgy beat begins proceedings, but opens up to reveal a spacious, cinematic texture and a killer vocal hook that sets tracks for the centre of your brain.

It's all very promising, and a highly impressive and ambitious first few minutes, yet unlike many a debut that pitches its best material at the start this record just goes on getting better and better. With On & On cast as a bold, epic second track with a driving percussion underbelly we begin to see something of a blueprint in the sweeping melancholy of these big compositions. Krayg Burton's slightly nasal vocals hold a hint of the early 90s in their inflections, but are perfectly cast against the cloudy backdrop, wonderful whooshes of sound giving the home stereo or headphones a real treat. Even the half-way instrumental Garrison succeeds in its big chord progression, stately yet curiously moving.

Stylistic comparisons reveal the slightest of brushes with The Cure, Secret Machines and even British Sea Power, but Film School have plenty of their own originality on show, and only the Secret Machines would consider something like the wonderfully ghosted drum intro to Like You Know. At a point where the album should by rights be petering out and getting tired on its feet, and is in fact threatening to self-combust, this wonderful moment sets everything back on track for the home straight.

Production, as you'll have gathered, is big, but not pretentious, meaning songs like On & On and Harmed carry all before them, as does He's A Deep, Deep Lake, with its falsetto vocals. This title hints at a theme of fantasy within the quintet, and the music takes any direction it chooses. And yet these are well structured, big-boned songs, strongly melodic and irresistibly moody.

After a few listens this record will have made a claim for exclusive rights to your ears. It's an extremely auspicious record with which to kick off their worldwide career, and marks them out to be a band of strength, quality, and originality. It's very early to say this, but already Film School is looking like one of this year's best albums.

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Mercury Prize 2009 nominees