Magic Kids – Memphis
True Panther
August 24, 2010

What It Sounds Like:  Sunny, low-fi pop-rock that takes you back to the 1960s with vocal harmony and tambourines.  The Mamas And The PaPas, as well as The Beach Boys, should essentially be the Magic Kids’ favorite bands.

Brian Wilson, come in.  Do you read me?  Mr. Wilson, these are the Magic Kids.  Come in, Brian Wilson.  We’re your biggest fans.  Over.  Come in…

The sunkissed melodies on the debut Magic Kids record are a perfect homage to the lead singer of The Beach Boys.  Remember when little Susie gave you your first smooch on the cheek in first grade?  Remember swinging on the jungle gym?  How about skipping through a field of daisies?  Alright, maybe not that last one, but boy oh boy have I got a soundtrack for you to bring you back to the simple summer days of being carefree and – what – gleeful?  Sure, gleeful.  These songs are full of glee!

These pop tunes with bits of chamber and baroque are two to three minute vacations into the past.  I mean, name me another band who is going to write a song like Superball, about yes, everyone’s favorite childhood toy, but also try to relate it to a childhood relationship!  

Oh superball 
I’m trying to get to you to show you how to laugh
How I’m hurting from throwing you too hard
And now you’re all alone in the big world

When we were young
I used to play with you for hours in the sun
And I controlled your super powers
Yeah you were always on my mind
And you stay in my pocket all the time

These indie-kids have created a record that is reverb-soaked and wholeheartedly innocent, and all the while being thoroughly entertaining.  The drawback is obvious though – where can they go from here?  These tunes are great for what they are, but it’s doubtful that we’re going to need three or four albums of the same.  How do you expand on a sound that is already pigeonholed into one very specific genre so deeply?

I’m trying not to think too hard about this band’s future and simply enjoy some of these fun tracks, like the pop-guitar and piano keys that roll all over Hey Boy.  The Mamas & The Papas?  You better believe it.  There is not one chilly sound over this one record.  The tones are super-warm on Skateland, which is the most free-flowing, up-tempo thing we find on here.  Sailin’ brings the piano-pop to the forefront, complete with hand claps and all.  The easiest tracks to fall in love with, however, are the two that we are introduced to right out of the gate, Phone and Candy.

This record is sugary sweet indie-pop that is a sure fire choice for a first date/dancing in your living room/smile on your face scenario – to the max!

7/10

If you had to listen to two tracks:  Phone / Candy