Today is my girlfriend's birthday, so today's band is going to be one that reminds me of her. One morning at SXSW we started out the day lounging on the lawn of the French Legation Museum, eating breakfast tacos (delicious!) and drinking Cokes. The night before, Camera Obscura had headlined a free show under the same tent, and they were a pretty good barometer for what kind of bands were best suited to a small gently sloping lawn hidden from the highway by trees on one side and the "oldest French structure in Austin" on the other (what? something older than the La Madelaine chain restaurant locations?). It was a sunny day, we were on bikes, and it seemed a no-brainer to spend at least an hour or so outside enjoying the day before we delved into the sticky-floored, stale-beer smelling dank bars and clubs where we'd be seeing bands for the rest of the day (including, happily, Those Darlins mentioned below).
We went to see Dent May and his Magnificent Ukelele, who I might just make one of my Daily Bombs somewhere on down the line, but I ended up really enjoying this band called Here We Go Magic. Having one of the gayest names of all time (possibly ranking number two after Death Cab for Cutie), and being from Brooklyn (damn that place!), and being compared (unfairly, I say) to Wavves (who is overrated and borrrrring), this band seems to have a lot going against it. However, the low-fi aspect of this music transcends most bands of that Pitchfork-hyped genre, and manages to take the best of analog home recording, acoustic strumming, and layered vocals and turn it into a warm and oddly catchy, looping, swirling collection of phrases that wash over you nicely. Besides the fact that it reminds me how much I'd rather be sitting in the sun, eating breakfast tacos and smiling at my girlfriend than sitting in a cubicle typing this...
If you didn't know better, you might mistake the vocals in the opening of "Tunnelvision" for a lady, but Here We Go Magic is essentially Luke Temple, a pleasant folky popster under his own moniker, working alone in his bedroom studio to record music that doesn't sound exactly like the Luke Temple we might know and love. Albeit still a bit ladylike. Granted, some of the offerings on Here We Go Magic's myspace player devolve into self-loving noodling, but besides the enjoyable "Tunnelvision," I've really taken to playing "Fangala" as often as possible, and have an affinity for "Only Pieces" as well.
Enjoy. Preferably in the sunshine with a breakfast taco and a nice girl.
http://www.myspace.com/herewegomagic
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