Phantasmagorical. That was the live Magic Castles show tonight at the Uptown, as their other two shows I've seen at Kitty Cat. I urge all you kitties out there to climb on board this magickal mysticore tour, and trip and dance to Magic Castles, one of the most authentic psych folk/acid rock band I've heard during this current resurgence of psychedelia.
The dreamy, jangledy songs with fantastical lyrics and groovy layers of keys, primal drumming, sweetly eerie harmonies, ghost-like echoes and vacuums of sound, tambourines perfectly accentuating those layers, melodic bass . . . weave a web of intricate layers of sound beautiful to both hear altogether, and to isolate from each other (as if hearing 2 or 3 songs beautifully intertwined) in the mind. Magic Castles, drawing from late '60s and early 70s psychedelia, had excellent timing and space jams, approaching Zappa, and also featuring haunting Joy Division moments. Definitely strong Pink Floyd (Sid B. days) V.U and Jefferson Airplane references abound in a delightfully dark way. It was a trippy fun musical experience that you couldn't help but dance to and get caught up in inextricably. They have beautiful periods of slowing down,and messing with time and breath-catching transitions. Their slight off/minor/flat keys cause delicious shivers. The harmonies are perfectly eerie, playful and dark. Songs such as entirely memorable "Emory" you'll find yourself hearing over and over in your head long after the show is over.
Definitely catch their next live shows: March 7 at Stasius, and March 11 at Lee's with
the band currently known as The Lapdance Band of Horses ( a better name than their last one; who knows what it will be next? Stay tuned for 2nd Tuesdays at the Turf beginning April for more on this great new local supergroup and the bands they host).
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