''See You in Magic'' is the debut album by the

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

The Night Marchers The Night Marchers are an American alternative rock band formed in 2007 in San Diego, California, United States. The band is composed of singer/guitarist John Reis, guitarist Gar Wood, bassist Tommy Kitsos, and drummer Jason Kourkounis. Reis, Wo ...

, released in 2008 by

Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is home ...

and Swami Records. The Night Marchers are the latest musical project of singer/

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

John Reis John Reis, also known by the pseudonyms Speedo, Slasher, and the Swami is an American musician, singer, guitarist, record label owner, and disc jockey. He is best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band Rocket from the Crypt, which ...

, previously of Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, Rocket from the Crypt, the Hot Snakes, and the

Sultans Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

. Reis announced the group's formation in August 2007, after all of his previous acts had broken up by January of that year. The band also includes

Beehive and the Barracudas A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

guitarist Gar Wood,

CPC Gangbangs CPC Gangbangs were a Montreal, Quebec-based garage punk band, composed of former members of bands Les Sexareenos (1999–2002), The Spaceshits (1995–99), Lyle Sheraton and the Daylight Lovers (1997–99), Grime, and Milky Ways. History CPC Gan ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Tommy Kitsos, and former Delta 72

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Jason Kourkounis. Wood and Kourkounis had previously recorded and performed with Reis in the Hot Snakes. The band members are credited on the album using

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

that they had used in their previous acts: Reis is credited as "Speedo" (his stage name in Rocket from the Crypt), Wood as "Dner" (Beehive and the Barracudas), Kitsos as "Skitsos" (CPC Gangbangs), and Kourkounis as "Jsinclair" (Hot Snakes). In announcements leading up to the album, Reis described the sound of the music as an amalgamation of his previous bands and influences:

"The sound is a combonation icof everything I've been a part of dating back to my prepubescent days in Pitchfork. Similar to Hot Snakes but not as sinister yet still maintaining some of the drama and subsonic boom. Akin to the rockin' fun of RFTC but without the same kind of riffery. Like the Sultans but not as straightforward yet still maintaining the sense of melody and pop of the 2nd record. Occasional nods to the Flamin' Groovies,
Real Kids The Real Kids are an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States, led by guitarist, singer and songwriter John Felice. Career Felice (born 1955) grew up in Natick, Massachusetts, as a neighbor and friend of Jonathan Richman, a ...
, Byrds, boogie rock era
Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
, Bo Diddley,
Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
in general, Wipers, Michael Yonkers and Shuggie Otis are evident to me."

Critical response to the album has been generally positive. Tim Sendra of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

rated it 4 out of 5, calling it "Pure, hard, fun and nasty rock & roll action" and "an album of rampaging hard rock that kicks hard and sticks with you like a monster hangover." Comparing the album to Reis' past musical efforts, he likens it most closely to the Sultans, saying of the music: "The guitars are taut and fierce, the drums pounding but not over-bearing, and the occasional shouted backing vocals mix well with Reis' powerful everyman vocal delivery. Reis' skill at crafting songs with hooky choruses has never deserted him and is strong as ever here."

Track listing

All songs written by

#"Closed for Inventory" 2:48 #"In Dead Sleep (I Snore ZZZZ)" #"I Wanna Deadbeat You" #"Jump in the Fire" 3:48 #"Branded" #"Whose Lady R U?" 4:07 #"You've Got Nerve" 5:28 #"Open Your Legs" #"Bad Bloods" #"And I Keep Holding On" 4:56 #"Total Bloodbath" #"Panther in Crime" #"We're Goin' Down"

Performers

*Speedo (

) -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, lead vocals *Dner (Gar Wood) - guitar, backing vocals *Skitsos (Tommy Kitsos) -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Jsinclair (Jason Kourkounis) -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Studio personnel and recording details

*Recorded by Dave Gardner at City of Refuge and Seedy Underbelly, assisted by Adam *Additional engineering by Eric Olsen *Mixed by Ben Moore at City of Refuge *Art, design, and band photo by Ben Goetting

References

General references

Notes

{{Authority control 2008 albums John Reis albums