Monday, January 31, 2011

mystery solved

The internet failed us (and that means YOU) so we had to piece our own minds back together. Last week's mystery tune ended up being "Ice Cream Man" by the Tornados, recorded by the awesome Joe Meek.



So no one gets a MAGIC KIDS No-Prize this time. I'm just going to give myself an ice cream sandwich.

for no reason, here's a barrage of progressively less related songs:

this weird Joe Meek version of Ginny Arnell's "Dumb Head":


the classic (weirder) Ginny Arnell original:


and one from the guy that wrote it:
David Hess - Sunshine Path
Huh, who would have guessed there was a pompous, bumbling MAN behind "Dumb Head".

-Will

Monday, January 24, 2011

mystery tune

I woke up this morning with a very brief snippet of a song stuck in my head that I couldn't place, and it's been driving me crazy all day. When I played it on guitar for Bennett, it started driving him crazy too, so it seemed like a good question to take to the internet.

!!!!!!!!HERE'S THE MP3!!!!!!!!

First person to accurately guess the song we're thinking of gets a No-Prize.

RULES AND REGULATIONS:
What seemed at first like a shortcut to an answer is starting to reveal potential as a sort of game, which might be worth repeating here. See, we've got some pretty strong hunches as to what the song might be, but since we're consulting you before confirming the answer ourselves, it's more than just a "name that tune" game; you also have the whims and delusions of our stupid brains to contend with. It might be something really obvious and famous, but it's also entirely possible that whatever I'm playing on guitar is A) nothing like the song we're thinking of, or B) from an imaginary song. Half the stuff we thought we accidentally ripped off on Memphis ended up not being at all how we remembered it.

Doesn't count if you know another song with this melody. Multiple chances for No-Prizes if it turns out me and Bennett were thinking of different songs. If no one gets it I'll post the answer in a week, for sake of completeness.

I just hope it doesn't end up being the Beach Boys.

-Will

weekend update

been meaning to post this all week, but it looks like Mad Decent beat us to it. Last weekend Al and Ben backed Bosco Delrey up for a show in Memphis, and our friend April got some cool video...


More on the Mad Decent blog

Meanwhile, across town, Bennett was playing keydrums for Abe White's ever-growing punk orchestra MANATEES. I implore you to get a good look at Bennett's awesome headset mic..and keep going for some breathtaking ("nsfw") True Sons Of Thunder photos, all by "Hey Boy" cover photographer Don Perry.
..then this weekend we all reconvened in various other permutations to raise money for the memphis socialist party. Thus far no incriminating video has surfaced, but if you're in Memphis next Sunday you can attend the sequel, Red January III at the Buccaneer. Don't worry, we're also hard at work on new MAGIC KIDS tunes, and it's going to be pretty awesome.

I'll leave you with this somewhat complementary old video of Ben and Bosco Delrey's Gucci Mane tribute...
-Will

Friday, January 14, 2011

cult classic

catch us on tour this spring: US dates with Cults, plus a visit to Australia!

Wed 3/9 Sydney, Australia @ Manning Bar $
Fri 3/11 Melbourne, Australia @Northcote Social Club
Sat 3/12 Meredith, Victoria @ Golden Plains Festival
Wed 3/30 Brooklyn, NY @Knitting Factory*
Thu 3/31 New York, NY @Mercury Lounge*
Fri 4/1 Boston, MA @Brighton Music Hall*
Sat 4/2 Montreal, QC @Il Motore*
Mon 4/4 Toronto, ONT @The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern*
Tue 4/5 Buffalo, NY @Soundland*
Wed 4/6 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop*
Thur 4/7 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle*
Fri 4/8 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry*
Mon 4/11 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile*
Tue 4/12 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios*
Thu 4/14 San Francisco, CA @The Independent*

*= w/Cults
$= w/Wavves

Monday, January 10, 2011

space junky

our buddy Bosco Delrey's "Space Junky" music video is now online. Filmed in the awesome, haunted (literally, by ghosts) upstairs of Earnestine and Hazel's in Memphis, it contains fleeting glimpses of a Magic Kid or two, and enough other local creeps to haunt 12 Earnestine and Hazel's.

Bosco Delrey - "Space Junky" from stereogum on Vimeo.

The directors did a pretty good job capturing what went down; this is pretty much exactly how I remember it, down to the multiple Boscos fading in and out and Stephen in varying degrees of clown costume every time I blinked my eyes.

-Will

willy nilly SR.

Billy Hayes, our former bandmate in a ton of bands, left his most recent gig in Wavves a few months ago, but not before recording a few more songs. (Since I'm not sure how often people will end up mentioning this angle elsewhere) the new Wavves track released today was originally Billy's brainchild, and features his vocals, keyboards and drums!

Check it out: Wavves - "Stained Glass (Won't You Let Me Into Yr Heart)"
probably even Hayes-ier than any previous Wavves tunes. (he also wrote "Baby Say Goodbye" and "Convertible Balloon" on their King of the Beach album)

Check out his soundcloud for some more recent Billy solo trax. Even more patented Billy haze to swim through (with surprise appearances from Al and Bennett!)
Latest tracks by billy hayes

While we're at it.. here is the original 4-track version of "Baby Say Goodbye," with Billy on drums and lead vocals, Al on guitar, Stephen Pope on bass and a guitar solo from me.

(-Will)