The Magic Gang are an English
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band formed in
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
in 2013. The band consists of Jack Kaye and Kristian Smith who are vocalists and guitarists, bassist Angus Taylor, and drummer Paeris Giles. Songs from the band have been described as having elements of
power pop
Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...
and
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
,
[ and the group's vocal ]harmonies
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...
have been compared to those of the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
.
History
The band members are originally from Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
.[ Kaye and Smith met each other at Brockenhurst College. They moved in together with Taylor and Giles in ]Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
after meeting them while studying at BIMM University.Felix White
Felix Andrew Odell White (born 28 September 1984) is a British musician, best known as the guitarist of the British indie rock band The Maccabees. He is also co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Greg James, James Anders ...
, guitarist from The Maccabees.
In 2018, the band released their debut album ''The Magic Gang''. The album reached number 12 on the UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
and received a score of 71 on Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Outlets who gave positive reviews of the album include NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
, The Line of Best Fit
''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music.
It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...
, DIY Magazine, and The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
. The band was also nominated for the "Best New Artist" award at the 2018 NME Awards
The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine ''NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of ...
.Blossoms
In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring.
Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as wel ...
but the tour only commenced in August 2021 after it was postponed as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Band members
* Jack Kaye — vocals, guitar
* Kristian Smith — vocals, guitar
* Angus Taylor — bass
* Paeris Giles — drums
Discography
Studio albums
* ''The Magic Gang'' (2018)
* ''Death of the Party'' (2020)
Extended plays
* ''The Magic Gang'' (2016)
* ''The Second EP From'' (2016)
* ''EP Three'' (2017)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic Gang
British indie rock groups
Musical groups from Brighton and Hove
Musical groups established in 2013
Warner Music Group artists