Los Angeles-based indie act, Magic Bronson, is back with an incredible new EP, due to be released on the 8th April. As Magic Bronson say, if you asked them what kind of music they make, they’d tell you “We honestly don’t know”.
The duo consists of Michael Nicastro (Vocals, Synth, Percussion, and Production) and Matthew Lieberman (Bass, Synth, Vocals, and Production). BuzzbandsLA describes them in quite an exotic but very accurate way: “stupefyingly uncategorizable as it is intoxicating.” Described as indie, alternative, synth and electronica, the band claim to take influence from a wide range of influences (The Velvet Underground, Beck, Blondie, Gorillaz, David Bowie, The Doors and Lou Reed, to name a few) and produce their addictive tracks right out of their own home recording studios in Los Angeles, California. I found the electronic duo’s new EP to have a primarily indie pop feel with a highly electronic synth-led backing. At times whilst listening to the EP I found the production to be much more of a stronger element musically than the vocals displayed.
The strongest track on the album was definitely ‘Monster’. Beginning with a dreamy synth melody, the song erupts into a fierce indie rock ballad that dramatically picks up the pace of the song before returning to the same slow dreamy pace, accompanied by Nicastro’s vocals. The fast-paced indie rock segment of the song features a few times and changes up the tempo. This contrast in tempo during different parts of the song makes it a song you could listen to both in a quiet, chilled setting but the rock segment of the song wouldn’t sound out of place at a party either. No doubt it gets the crowd moving when performed live.
I could imagine another great song from the EP, ‘Hell With A Water Pistol’, being even more of a floor-stomper however. Catching your ear with a down-tempo groove (touching onto indie rock again) and vocals at the beginning that reminds me personally of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. However, this vocal style takes on a more feel good pop-like style at times. It also features a more electronic-dance orientated tone than the other tracks, at times reminiscent of more commercial-sounding electronic dance music but also features nineties-sounding breakbeats, particularly in the more down-tempo parts of the song. ‘Disco Cowboy’ shares a similar groove to this song and owing to its name, carries a more country rock beat with band’s guitar-playing becoming more evident.
Just like the previous two songs discussed, ‘Disco Cowboy’ would get the crowd-moving in no time. ‘Run Run’ is also quite a fast-paced song as you could imagine but trades in the rock-style of the previous songs for a much more indie pop theme and although this is a track that the band seems keen to promote, I personally didn’t find it to be as good or as engaging as ‘Monster’, ‘Hell With A Water Pistol’ or ‘Disco Cowboy’.
I found the weakest track on the album to be ‘Wake Up (111th Dream)’. I wasn’t a big fan of the vocals and this is an example of Magic Bronson’s impressive production skills coming into play as one of the band’s major assets. Although I found nothing wrong with the quality of Nicastro’s singing voice, I found his lyrics to be cheesy and not the most engaging. I also thought they lacked sense but perhaps that is because the song is intended to sound like a dream almost. Maybe this track is my least favourite because it’s probably the most pop-orientated song on the EP but the production/backing found on this track is a lovely piece of work. Its combination of orchestral and electronic instruments creates an incredible symphony that few would find hard to chill-out to. Definitely the song’s redeeming feature.
My only real problem with this EP is that it left me wanting to hear more and now I understand why their music has been described as ‘addictive’. I would love to see Magic Bronson perform live if I had the opportunity and as I said, I could imagine some of their songs to be real floor-stompers that get the audience going. I recommend that everyone gives this duo a listen to see exactly why their explosive and experimental style of music rightfully receives the attention it does from listeners not just inside their native United States, but from around the world too.
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