\ABRA-DABRA/: Here We Go Magic

Here We Go Magic is a Brooklyn band headed by Luke Temple. Their eponymous debut album is somewhat of a departure from Temple's solo music, but still has his signature songwriting style and gorgeous voice. The band is pretty new, and there isn't too much information on them, but they created a bit of buzz by touring with Grizzly Bear and then signing to Secretly Canadian. This album is a bit short, coming in at about 38 minutes, but it packs a punch. I have at no point been overwhelmed or completely blown away by their music, because it isn't groundbreaking. It's just good. My former roommate recommended I check this band out over the summer, and I was happy I did. I have found myself coming back to their music over and over, and I haven't gotten bored with it. The album, pictured below, is pretty strange as far as style. It takes some turns that I certainly didnt expect going into it the first time. I think it is best to go song by song on this one. (There are only nine). But first!

"Only Pieces" starts the album off with a really cool mix of real percussion and electronic blips, that could be Blue Man Group interlude. "What's the use in dyin', dyin', if I don't know when?" Temple's existential quandary is the first thing we hear from him. A bit later an acoustic guitar tinkles over everything, and the harmonies grow and build. I'll stop counting the layers there, but this continues a bit with repeated variations of his original question. It seems to grow and grow and speed up, but the tempo is constant. In a way it is a song fragment that is just stretched out, but its nice to hear music that isn't trying too hard.
Next we hear "Fangela," the first single and a great song. Again, simple but satisfying. It sounds like it was recorded down long empty hallway. The instruments (especially drums/hand claps) are echoey and spacious. This is again complimented with lite synths.
Around this time I felt like I had the band figured out. I pigeonholed them as sort of indie rock with dreamy, poppy sensibilities. But they had more up their sleeves (pardon the magic pun).
"Ahab" is next. Bass riff starts us off followed by a constant drum rhythm, which both persist through the entire song. A few brief almost indiscernible lyrics, as is Temple's style, but by the end there are so many layered drones that you don't really know where they came from. Not my favorite track, but the next one is.
"Tunnelvision" is a dreamy chugging track that gets in your head for days at a time. Again it is kinda the same thing for 4 minutes but it really doesn't matter to me. The fuzzy, hissy, deamy, sunny, warm, blissed-out song is a joy to listen to. And with this track, I realized that this band and album kinda belong to the Ducktails/Washed Out/Neon Indian/Memory Tapes trend of 4-track, distorted 80's synth, atmospheric songs that are everywhere these days. One difference is that they didn't go the dance music route. They are like folky indie rock with a Ducktails atmosphere. (If you don't believe me, or just don't hear it, listen to Here We Go Magic all the way through, and then listen to "Horizon" and "Beach Point Pleasant" by Ducktails).
Ok. Photo Break.

"Ghost List" is really a change from the first half of the album. It is really an ambient track. I love it. Loud, full and fuuuuuzzzzzy. At the 1:25 mark the song breaks into the distortion and hiss that is behind many Deerhunter and Atlas Sound songs. And at the 2:05 mark it sounds like the heart of a huge industrial beast pumping.
"I Just Want To See You Underwater" is my second favorite track on the album. It gets stuck in my head a lot too. Same format as far as rhythmic backing and atmosphere with repetitive lyrics. Ya know, there isn't a ton for me to say about this song. Just listen.
"Babyohbabyijustcantstanditanymore" is the shortest track, and more like an intro to "Nat's Alien" but its pretty cool as well. Its just sound really...noise maybe? Ambient.
"Nat's Alien" is also ambient a really cool looped sound that sounds like the tractor beam from an alien spacecraft. It is punctured with distorted feedback.
"Everything's Big" is the unexpected ending to Here We Go Magic's album. It is back to simple indie. But not for long. The innocence and playfulness build over 5 and a half minutes ending in epicness reminicent of The National. The accordion and whimsical farm animal talk are traded in for some jazzy drumming and Temple's most moving and heartfelt vocals of the album. This is a stripped down track, and isn't like the others, but fits somehow.

I really think everyone should check this out. Like I said the music is revolutionary, but I still listen to it and enjoy it, so it does have longevity. There is just something about the songwriting that is so touching and strong. Temple's voice is really great, and it wasn't only me who noticed.

"Luke Temple has one of the most beautiful voices in pop music." - Sufjan Stevens

"His voice alone is so damn good -- one of the prettiest voices in all of indie rock, hands down." - Ben Gibbard