Neu The Magic Gang

Name: The Magic Gang
Based: Brighton
Listen: Soundcloud
Similar to: Mac Demarco, Weezer

The Magic Gang was initially a new project featuring members of YRRS, Home School and Bayy, with one bedroom demo surfacing online in the form of the utterly infectious ‘Bruises’. One year on and, having played a mere handful gigs and added a couple more songs to their catalogue, the band are still barely out of the pram - yet they’re already playing packed-out venues alongside Swim Deep and Courtney Barnett, demonstrating decidedly understated and mellow numbers to increasingly adoring audiences. 

Even last year’s ‘With My Baby’, a rampant Beach Boys-esque surf number with a dangerously infectious chorus, still manages to retain that beer-and-burgers-on-the-seafront, good vibes quality, whilst the MJ (from Hookworms)-produced ‘Shallow’ has an unsurprising psychedelic influence, as seemingly lazy yet carefully measured chords ring out beneath razor sharp guitar riffs biting at each other’s heels. There’s a real anxiety to the lyrics too, as songwriting duo Jack Kaye and Kristian Smith seem consumed by their own misgivings (the repeated cries of “I’m so shallow” being, perhaps, the most obvious example), that conjures Rivers Cuomo’s early self-deprecation to mind. Lyrically anxious whilst remaining emphatically nonchalant in their sound, the Brighton-based four piece showcase everything that’s got us hooked on the new wave of Captured Tracks-inspired slacker rock.