There is always a level of existential anxiety in the sounds of Magic Shoppe. The band's distant vocals, blistering guitar spirals and unforgiving, sustained feedback continue the traditions of the early 1990s wave of neo-psychedelic bands, but like shoegazers, the band also lean on a more insulated, intimate approach — like a slow-release capsule.
Magic Shoppe's High Goodbye EP begins like a dive into a cold lake, the first and title track, "High Goodbye," rushing its passenger outside of themselves through raw feedback and starry overtones. One needs only to watch the band's accompanying video, in which diluting dyes in liquid are layered over a flight through clouds, to affirm the relationship between internal and external worlds in the songs. Like a Möbius strip, it connects both through the hypnosis of repetition. Standout "Lost in Space," meanwhile, confronts themes of loneliness and desolation over thick, floating psych riffs.
While High Goodbye won't necessarily relieve anxiety, there's something meditative about it that will make you want to blast the volume, then zone the hell out.
(Little Cloud Records)Magic Shoppe's High Goodbye EP begins like a dive into a cold lake, the first and title track, "High Goodbye," rushing its passenger outside of themselves through raw feedback and starry overtones. One needs only to watch the band's accompanying video, in which diluting dyes in liquid are layered over a flight through clouds, to affirm the relationship between internal and external worlds in the songs. Like a Möbius strip, it connects both through the hypnosis of repetition. Standout "Lost in Space," meanwhile, confronts themes of loneliness and desolation over thick, floating psych riffs.
While High Goodbye won't necessarily relieve anxiety, there's something meditative about it that will make you want to blast the volume, then zone the hell out.