Magic Shoppe
High Goodbye EP

Last year, I literally developed a crush on 'Wonderland,' the second LP by these guys from Boston, Massachusetts, so much so that I ultimately considered it the most interesting album of the year in regards to the relatively new 'minor' neo-psychedelic wave, including bands like Black Market Karma, Rancho Relaxo, The Orange Revival, The Third Sound, and, if you will, even the new 'muse' of Anton Newcombe, the young and beautiful Tess Parks.

Among all these groups, which in their entirety earn my appreciation, the Magic Shoppe convinced me more than any because they manage to combine this new aesthetic with a genuinely captivating and energetic guitar sound, which, apart from the inevitable nods to the early Brian Jonestown Massacre, strongly resembles that of the Warlocks by Bobby Hecksher. Consequently, their sound, besides being enriched with reverb and echo and oriented toward garage sounds, turns out to be somewhat minimalistic and directly to the point, without getting lost in seeking out specific solutions that clearly are not part of this band's DNA.

Now, a year later, let's say the Magic Shoppe are rightly striking while the iron is hot, releasing an EP of unreleased tracks titled 'High Goodbye,' containing four songs. Released last June, the disc has been described by the band itself as a 'hypnotic reverb rock' record.

Essentially, the contents are the same as the first LP, although, in my opinion, the band aims even higher here—not by climbing (possibly) useless mirrors, but focused on the power of the sound. 'High Goodbye,' the title track, immediately shows that already mentioned devotion to the Warlocks, but the sound is heavier, and there are clearly more guitars and overdubs compared to the past, along with the introduction of a certain shamanism and droning component ('Lost In Space'), which by now, starting from the Fuzz Club Records albums, has become a recurrent aspect of the genre. While certain references and the usual devotion to sixties psychedelia and more beat sounds become less evident, the band's garage and rock and roll attitude ('Her Ritual,' 'My Mind's Eye') remains immaculate, a territory where the band now moves with decisiveness and literally with eyes closed. In conclusion: a brief but intense burst of energy and psychedelic vibrations.