What began as an on-again/off-again side project for three talented L.A. performing songwriters - Eleni Mandell, Inara George (The Bird and The Bee) and Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond) - has ultimately born some interesting musical fruit: The Living Sisters are indeed alive and, yes, they Love To Live, according to the trio's March 30 debut album for Vanguard. While each member brings their own distinctive voice to the project, The Living Sisters embrace of what the L.A. Times calls "a sweet adventure in harmony" makes their slightly retro, interwoven vocal splendor something that might not be exactly new but it's certainly more of a delightful rarity than a dusty relic.

The velvet-smooth harmonies that saturate Love To Live bring to mind the tightly precisioned vintage sound of The Andrews Sisters or even The Everly Brothers with a healthy dollop of Brian Wilson, the Roches and Fleetwood Mac thrown in to keep things a bit more pop-friendly. Tasty doo-wop soul meets a sashaying folk/country groove on the Sisters' best songs including the winking, twinkling "Double Knots" and careening bit of whimsical fluff that is "How Are You Doing". "There's something about us three singing harmony," Mandell says, "that is almost like religion." And yes, you can count us among the newly converted. Recommended.

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The Living Sisters - "How Are You Doing" (from the album Love To Live)

The Living Sisters - "Double Knots" (from the album Love To Live)