UK folk rockers top US charts

Mumford & Sons play at Auckland's Vector on November 2. Photo / Supplied

Mumford & Sons' second album bigger than Bieber

English folk rockers Mumford & Sons have scored the biggest first-week album sales for a new release this year in America.

The band's second album Babel has shot to the top of the Billboard 200 charts with sales of just over 600,000 - more than 200,000 copies than Justin Bieber's Believe, which previously held the best 2012 debut title.

But the album still falls short of the biggest overall sales week of the year so far - that trophy belongs to Adele, who notched up 730,000 sales in February following her Grammy Awards wins for hit album 21.

Meanwhile, on the new chart, Green Day and No Doubt also debut high.

The punk trio's !Uno! enters the top three at two with 139,000 first week sales, while No Doubt's comeback album Push and Shove starts at three with 115,000 units.

On the Hot 100 singles chart, Korean pop sensation PSY will get to keep his clothes on for another week after promising fans he'd perform topless if his Gangnam Style hit scored a No1 in America - the tune has been kept off the top of charts by Maroon 5, who score a third week at number one with One More Night.

Mumford & Sons are also top of the New Zealand charts and play at Auckland's Vector on November 2.

- AAP