Bermuda is a mellowed out joy suitable for all your melancholic, out of body experience needs.
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Mrs Magician are a small, but very talented four piece surf punk band from San Diego, California. Gaining notoriety in the middle of 2012, the band enjoyed early praise with their first album release, Strange Heaven, which they followed up with a chunky album of B-sides before they briefly split up. They came back together in 2015, teasing the future of the band by releasing Reborn Boys online, hinting that they were working on something more. And at last, rising from the ashes, Mrs Magician release their second official album, Bermuda.
The album features the same nostalgic indie-punk vibe that fans have come to adore. Inspired by 1960s legends like The Zombies and The Sonics, Mrs Magician sound like a reincarnation of the pioneers of garage-y, surf rock sound, made modern by upbeat power pop hooks and disarmingly Twenty First century lyrics, that touch on the politics of social media, soulless city life, high male sensitivity in heterosexual relationships, and the rapidly dwindling interest in religion in the western world.
Bermuda has many wonderful highlights, making it difficult to pick favourites. Phantoms kicks the album off with a delightfully distinctive surf pop vibe, lyrics jump in-between a nefarious guitar riff which work together to decry the detached world we live in. Eyes All Over Town is a great example of something the band do beautifully. It’s a fun, energetic song that creeps into your heart like an eighties horror flick, juggling a spirited tempo with a message of light-hearted doom. Tear Drops reeks of another consistent staple of Mrs Magician. The impression of self-aware depression and disillusionment, preached over paradoxically optimistic chords to create a beautiful and haunting reflection of millennial existence.
In the interest of promoting the album, a new music video was released on Friday 13th May last week, which heavily referenced the well-loved unstoppable mass murderer Jason Voorhees, a cult icon from yesteryear, fitting the band’s aesthetic brilliantly. You can watch the entire video on their Facebook page and Youtube channel, both of which feature a full cast list.
The band are currently touring Europe to promote the new album, and have unfortunately already visited the UK in April. Over the next few months they will hop about France and Spain before returning the US where they will play in New York and Canada, but sticking mostly to their beloved West Coast.
You can also find Mrs Magician on SoundCloud, which unlike a great many musicians and groups, they keep updated with unreleased covers and smaller songs that may never make it into an album. Below you can see the band shamble through their recording sessions like the heroes they are.
Bermuda is out now via Swami.
