Magic Wands - Magic, Love And Dreams

What is it about shoegaze that has helped it to endure all these years? While most styles of music come and go, it has been going strong for quite some time now. At least in the public eye, it has been undergoing a sort of revival in the last while. The Horrors went shoegaze on us earlier this year with the stunning ‘Primary Colours’, a record that was light-years ahead of their debut, and quite a brave move for the band. Over the last few years, we’ve also had A Place To Bury Strangers (whose second album, ‘Exploding Head’, arrives on 5th October; initial reports suggest that it is even more brutal a listen than the debut), Blonde Redhead, whose ‘23‘ was quite well received upon release, and M83, who are quite a consistent bunch indeed, as ‘Saturdays = Youth’ proved.

Introducing Magic Wands, a boy/girl duo, consisting of Chris and Dexy Valentine. Their music is firmly rooted in shoegaze, with the obvious influences of My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins. However, as this EP shows, they are much more concerned with wrapping accessible, three-minute pop songs in walls of sound. Quite a diverse listen, all five tracks featured here have one thing in common: they are all as immediate as each other. The hook, Magic Wands tell us, is key. Whether it’s the synth-driven rush of ‘Warrior’, the more subdued (well, about as subdued as you get in a shoegaze song) ‘Teenage Love’, or ‘Black Magic’, a song held together by a marvellous scuzzy guitar riff, there is something for everyone here. We say: get in there before everyone wants a piece of them.