Here We Go Magic

So I should definitely be focusing all of my writing energies right now on my article with a looming deadline, but instead I'm choosing to spend my time sharing my latest discovery with you all.

I'm sitting at Cafe Apropos, where they always have Sirius XMU playing. There are worse things to hear in a coffee shop, especially when you discover that the song you're listening to is by a band you've been reading a lot about but haven't heard yet: Here We Go Magic. The song: Tunnelvision



I first heard about this band a few weeks ago because Edward Droste from Grizzly Bear is way into this band, ergo Here We Go Magic is touring with the Grizzlies this spring/summer. This makes me doubly sad that this tour doesn't make a stop in Ohio, but maybe dates will be added for July and August that are closer to the big O.

So here's what I've found out about this band: First of all, the band name is pretty sweet. I don't even care if it's a reference to Harry Potter or if it's about drugs or whatever, it just makes me smile. It seems that there is one guy, Luke Temple, who does everything on the recordings, but he tours with some other dudes and dudettes (Peter Hale, Mike Bloch, AJ Lambert, Kristina Lieberson) so that there is actually something to experience live.

The sound: To me, I hear looping guitar that seems to hold hands with some toned down Animal Collective songs, but with a sound very very similar to Grizzly Bear at the same time. The tone is rather haunting in a way that hooks me in, and makes me happy that the sounds seem to go in circles and always come back to me. To play the devil's advocate, my friend Kyle says it's not for him because it's "really repetitive, but no energy." So there you go.

The latest self-titled Here We Go Magic record was released in March, and you can see how the critics rate it here.