Ex-Magicians

California Grass

Boston, MA

(Garbagetown)

“Former illusionists sing lo-fi songs about girls”

California Grass is the first offering from a relatively new indie rock band from Boston. Ex-Magicians are a 4-piece gritty indie rock outfit that sing songs about girls and life in general on jangly guitars. It’s a pretty basic first release from a Pavement-style band inspired by the Beach Boys and The Beatles. But they first come to terms with the fact that it definitely has a younger sound than they may have been going for. At times the Ex-Magicians sound a little like a band hoping to sign to Dischord or Sub-Pop (circa 1992) covering songs from the Drive-Thru Records catalogue (circa 2002-2003).

This release is available via Bandcamp and cassette only. I would be interested to hear what dynamic the cassette format brings, as the digital version is pretty densely tracked; the lo-fi medium might bring out some different qualities in the record. To be honest, this cassette would still feel like this band is in a growing phase, which is to be understood as they do seem very new to the scene. There’s a good, solid foundation here and lots of potential, but the actual framing of the band isn’t quite there yet. It should definitely be interesting to see where this group goes next.

exmagicians.bandcamp.com