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.