April 3, 2009

Album Review: Magic Magic

Magic Magic

8 / 10 Facts about this album:
* Magic Magic are a four-piece from Boston, Masachusettes, fronted by John Francis Murphy.
* 'Magic Magic' is their debut album.

Album review:
The spookiest thing about Magic Magic isn't that they're from Salem, international home of witches. Nor is it that they've got two drummers, however hydra-headed that always looks. It's that they've performed the musical equivalent of walking through walls by sneaking out an album of this much ambition while remaining virtually unknown outside their hometown. Their bold orchestral pop is capable of twisting from banjo langour to choral euphoria to Fender-bending aggression. Forget the lazy Arcade Fire comparisons: they share more with the echo-bedecked pomp of The Concretes, and the hi-fi adventures of The Shins, occasionally kicking off like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with guitars. Don't believe the lack of hype.

Gavin Haynes

More on this artist:
Magic Magic NME Artist Page
Magic Magic MySpace