Boston based Magic Shoppe have been purveyors in the finest psych-tinged gaze for well over a decade now. I was switched on to them by my good pal Ian from Fuzzed Up and Astromoon Records a good while back, and me being me, I forgot to follow up. Well, when I saw that they had dropped their latest album Mono Lake, I knew I had to grab a copy. Thankfully the good folks at Cardinal Fuzz had one copy left so let’s dive in and see what’s what.
The album starts with the shrieks and howls of ‘Hatchling’. This is a shoegaze masterclass and a very wise choice for an opener. A solid pop song shrouded in swathes of feedback and reverb.
Taking the tempo down a notch but losing none of the intensity comes ‘I Feel High’. This sounds like it could’ve swaggered right out of London in the nineties. I love the chainsaw guitars on this one.
‘Looking Right Through You’ blends that glide guitar we all love with a fuzzed-out wall of sound. As always though, at the heart of all this beautiful noise is a killer tune and a kick ass chorus. It’s kinda like The Mary Chain would sound like if they covered Bob Mould.
It’s full speed ahead into ‘Kingmaker’ and hints of Swervedriver emerge in the tones and drones. It’s a short, sharp shock of a song that I’m sure will be a live favourite. I can see the mosh pit going mad when its opening chords sound.
The cryptically titled ‘SFU 50’ follows. All moody, lurching along like a leviathan destroying all in its wake. The Spector-influenced drum breaks stand tall in its advance. Man, this song really chewed me up first time I heard it. Devoured me.
The band dial up the epic for ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Satan’. This track sounds like it’s being performed in a desert with nothing constraining the volume or intensity of the music. This is where we really get to appreciate the depth of Josiah Webb’s vocal prowess. He lifts this song into something really quite special.
I love the darkly psych intro to ‘You Have No Reflection’. The vampiric and gothic mood of that groove meld with pounding drums and pulsing bass. It’s a hypnotic enchantment and you go willingly. Even when the track turns on its head and reverses, the spell isn’t broken, only pulling the listener ever closer, tighter.
‘Paranormal’ feels like we are in familiar sonic territory, only for that to be shattered with a squawking guitar riff stopping the song dead in its tracks. This has the effect of making everything so much more alive and vibrant when the band kick back in again.
The album closes on the slow burning ‘Drugstore Heart’. Featuring a guest performance from The Dandy Warhols’ Peter Holmström, the song opens on Webb’s potent vocal delivery and guitar. He builds the tension to the point where the song can no longer be contained, it wants to be huge. And so it is, so it must become. The band kick in and start driving that epic soundscape they do so well. It’s breathtaking listening. What a way to end the album.
Ah, but is it over?
After a few minutes of silence, a secret track ‘S.F.O’ emerges from the silence. It’s a meditative psych experience. “I never needed anyone” chants Webb through a wash of reversed sitar like guitars lending a mystical ambience to our exit from this odyssey, this dream.
Mono Lake is a journey of an album. One that takes you into the night and through the desert of your mind. Few records have that cohesive track-into-track-into- track vibe locked down as tightly as you will experience here. Do yourself a favour. Set aside some time to sit back and let Magic Shoppe whisk you away. Who knows, you might not want to come back.
Mono Lake is out now on Cardinal Fuzz and Little Cloud Records. Check out the album over Bandcamp and if you favour the vinyl experience visit your favourite indie retailer to satiate your desire. Make sure to follow Magic Shoppe on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Bandcamp.
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