Today I learned the meaning of TEAM. Apparently, it doesn't refer to people who wear matching outfits, but rather to the idea that together, everyone achieves more. So, in honor of team spirit, I've decided to present you with a more populist review of From Bubblegum to Sky's Me and Amy and the Two French Boys. Everyone will be on the same team, and together, we will accomplish more! After all, if you're considering buying this record, you'll probably prefer to read more than one opinion. So, rather than risking a strain of your mouse-clicking tendon, this TEAM review will reprint several opinions of this album, conveniently in one place for your consumption. We'll all be on the same team, because together everyone achieves more.

First up! We have Splendidezine.com: "Me and Amy and the Two French Boys offers some of the best pop music likely to be made this year... It stands apart from other indie-pop songs because of the hipness and style that seem to flow from Mario... I think it's quite fetching, though, with "She Floats" a slowed-down "OB-La-Di, OB-La-Da", and "Major J" and upbeat cross between the Who and Mott the Hoople injected with Mr. Twee."

Next, from Bigorangecrayon.com: "And to think I thought I was taking a chance buying this album! This is one of the best albums I've heard all year... All of the songs on here are sung by Mario Hernandez from Ciao Bella, and they are all wonderful... I know I have a tendency to get really obsessed about music that I like so that's not surprising, but this one is special I think. It's wonderful, wonderful, magnificent indie-pop... So yeah, you want this album. You need this album. At least you do if you're me."

Our friends at Spin.com say: "Hernandez garnishes his immaculately catchy melodies with a Casio-load of silly flourishes that somehow blend in perfectly, every time. Music this good, I'm convinced, can work miracles. Pop like this can raise island nations. Look at the Fab Four in Liverpool. Look at John Travolta in Brooklyn. Then look me in the eye and tell me Alameda is not next in line."

Let's take a break for a brief summary: pop, hipness, style, fetching, Mr. Twee, wonderful, not surprising, special, magnificent, indie-pop, if you're me, immaculate, catchy melodies, silly flourishes, blend in perfectly, miracles, island nations, Fab Four, Travolta.

Finally, from Pitchforkmedia.com: "This album is like eating 11 consecutive pixie stix. It's overproduced vacant retro-pop kitsch, that might seem sweet and tart when it hits your tongue, but the flavors are indecipherable, and with each straw of processed sugar you feel more sick to your stomach. These songs have the nutritional value of pixie stix, too-- they're undeniably vacant of any new musical or lyrical ideas. Not even the rave reviews dished out by the bubblegum loving kids on the TEAM suggest that anything innovative happens between Mario, Amy, and the two French boys.

I have the sneaking suspicion that an alien is responsible for this glossy and sterile retro Japanese pop, albeit an alien "injected with Mr. Twee!" Here's the thing, though-- if Mario Hernandez has ever had a pimple, this album is a lie. If he ever spilled coffee all over his Boss' daily planner, this album is a lie. If his bubblegum ever got old and kind of hard, this album is a lie. I'm not even exposing anything Mario won't tell you himself in song titles like "Ask the Space Invader" and "My Thousand Years with Robots."

What we agreed on: Together, we can achieve more, and hey-- Mario Hernandez kind of sounds like Billy Corgan!

-Kristin Sage Rockermann