Magic Bullets - Magic Bullets reviews
Reviews by letter :
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y
| Pitchfork |
 On their sophomore full-length, San Francisco's Magic Bullets take careful, well positioned steps to revive a sound that marries early 1980s UK guitar pop and 90s college rock. That specific band names will come to mind when discussing Magic Bullets is unavoidable: The Smiths and Orange Juice are obvious, as are the nods to the sunnier elements of twee.
Since these sounds tend to inspire fierce allegiance, referencing them so overtly is risky. And with Magic Bullets, you have to take into account just how close to home some of this stuff hits. Though much of the guitar work here owes at least something to Johnny Marr, it becomes troubling when some of the licks seem practically copied and pasted. At one point, "Pretend & Descend" hijacks a riff from "Bigmouth Strikes Again" with such blatant disregard, it almost feels as if it should be listed with an asterisk. And even if lead singer Philip Benson shares few vocal similarities with the likes of Morrissey or Robert Smith, he's not above taking time during the more solemn moments on the album to pout like them.
But Magic Bullets get over by being anything but a bunch of miserablists. In this sense, they take a higher road, trying to write honest-to-god pop tunes that work independent of borrowed style. So while they do adopt a sound, they mostly leave the pose behind. You'd expect a song titled "Sigh the Day Away" to feel derivatively cheeky when peppered with earnestly-spun lyrics like, "It wouldn't hurt you to smile, why not try it out for a while?" But these aren't songs in ironic disguises. Lacking the maddened melodrama and cleverness that bands like Wild Beasts subscribe to, Magic Bullets come off like straight shooters, keeping things fresh, unassuming, and unlabored....full text |
|
| Limewire |
| While the self-titled second album by Magic Bullets begins with a squeal of guitar feedback, seconds later the noise dissipates to reveal an album shining with pop effervescence rather than clouded by tumultuous squalls. On the leadoff track, “A Day Not So Far Off,” the San Franciscan band races through a fetching batch of breakneck guitar jangle that recalls The Bats’ best work (e.g. “Made Up in Blue”). For the remainder of the record, though, it’s Orange Juice that comes to mind, singer Philip Benson’s warbly croon recalling that of Edwyn Collins, just as the band’s smooth mix of soul touches and post-punk pop is also reminiscent of Glasgow’s finest. But while those points of reference may be lost on some people, the Magic Bullets’ persuasive musical charms surely won’t. “Red Room” bounds atop a springy bassline, while “A Name Sits Heaviest on My Mind” mixes piano and acoustic guitar into a sprightly concoction that highlights Benson’s vocal talents. The band apparently lost a couple members to competing Bay Area band Girls in the interim between the band’s 2007 debut, A Child But in Life Yet a Doctor in Love, and this record, but they don’t seem to have suffered in the slightest for it....full text |
|
Magic Bullets lyrics
All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. All lyrics provided for educational purposes only
Copyright © www.sweetslyrics.com Please read our
Privacy policy - 0.0193s
Send "Magic Bullets " Ringtones to your Cell 
