Clearing the Air With Mystery Men Magic Magic

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By Steve Miller

Magic Magic is an enigma. No one really knows what to make of them.

So what should the curious music fan do to become better acquainted with this two-drummed, space-trucking, shoe-gazing reverbfest of a band?

Well, scouring their ever increasing archive of press coverage won't do much good, considering everything ever printed about them is almost completely wrong. They are not from Salem, they are still unsigned, and they most definitely DO NOT sound like the Arcade Fire. These five boys from Dedham have more in common with Grizzly Bear or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah than Canada's foremost orchestral-indie rock band.

Armed with a bevy of effects pedals and frontman/guitarist John Murphy's spacey vocals, Magic Magic produce a sound akin to a psychotropic sleigh ride through some sort of imaginary jazz club situated deep in the Massachusetts wilderness.

Dual percussionists Michael Hlady and Dylan Gough dance like spastic synchronized swimmers behind their respective sets providing a steady ebb and flow of rhythmic intensity ranging from light syncopated lines to cymbal heavy freakouts.

Bassist Nick Serra holds down the low end with lounge-tinged grooves and guitarist Brendan Hughes provides the icing for this metaphorical cupcake of genre-defying rock and roll.

After a brief but well received set at the Paradise this past Saturday opening for the Big Pink and A Place to Bury Strangers, the guys from Magic Magic sat down with BMN to talk about the band and what future plans they have.

One thing the guys said they hear a lot is that Magic Magic seemed to appear out of nowhere. Their self titled debut was released August of 2008 and caught the Boston music scene by surprise.

In a noted break from recent cultural trends, there was little to no online fanfare preceding the album. There was no single posted on so and so's blog, no leaked tracks, and to this day, the guys in Magic Magic avoid the internet unless absolutely necessary, opting for a more organic approach to networking.

"We have our business cards and we don't have our Myspace on them," said Murphy. "We did that on purpose so if you wanted to talk to us, you could e-mail us or something."

Avoidance of Web based marketing outlets hasn't seemed to hurt the band at all. In 2009, Magic Magic was named "Best New Band In Massachusetts" by the The Boston Phoenix and was featured in the London Times and NME.

Fresh off a gig at South by Southwest, in Austin, TX, Magic Magic is currently working on two new albums.

Well. Sort of.

The first record clocks in at around half an hour, which, by anyone else's standards, would be called an EP. But for Magic Magic, deeming it an EP seems a bit misleading "It's got, like, 14 tracks on it," said Murphy.

The second venture is most definitely your standard LP.

These two records, according to the group, represent their sound becoming even more characteristic of their personalities. "We just want to make it be like us," Murphy said. "A spit-spat mirror of all of us together."

The album is penciled in for a pre-summer release date, after which, the band hopes to embark on what will be their first official tour.

Maybe the expanded repertoire and increased face-time will help fan away the fog of mystery surrounding Magic Magic. Or maybe not. It should at least clear up the Arcade Fire bit.