The Answer Is In The Beat

Magic Castles: Starflower (A Recordings, 2015)

September 19, 2015 at 5:34 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Pretty decent droney psych-pop from Minneapolis. Male/female vocal harmonies and layers of pleasantly fuzzy guitars and keyboards. Sort of like Beach House but with more of a bite to it. “Lost in Space” is a really great spacey drum machine and echo track in the vein of Suicide’s softer moments like “Cheree”. The band clearly has a preoccupation with the moon, sky, and space, not just evident in the song titles but in the spacey, skygazing feel of the music. They also get points for brevity; the entire album is under a half hour, and none of the songs exceed five minutes. Not that there’s anything wrong with a psych band zoning out for long periods of time, but their songs tend to establish a mood and not really move beyond them, so they sound pleasant enough for their lengths. Most of the songs have a variation on the guitar/keyboard midtempo psych haze, except for the aforementioned “Lost in Space” which is more electronic, and the slower, more electronic instrumental “Samara”. “See You Shining” ends the album with a slow, dreamy ode to the stars.