Magick Mountain is a band that I recently came across on Instagram because the group was promoting their debut album, Weird Feelings (2020), which was released in October of last year. According to an about section of the band on musicglue.com, the group seems to be part of a new wave of garage rock bands, and have shared stages with a number of bands like levitation room, Cherry Glazerr, Dream Wife, and MISTERSTRANGE, to name a few. The group’s Bandcamp page describes their music as a psychedelic, proto-punk fuzzed out garage rock, which sounds like something I’ll dig a lot. With that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Bart Cobain” gets moving right away with a super strong backbeat and a strong, fuzzed-out guitar leading the way. Oh wow, this is super sweet. The vocals are almost reminiscent of shoegazing groups like My Bloody Valentine with the manner in which they’re mixed in the track. Oh wow, this song feels like the band is moving full steam ahead without any indication of stopping. The proto-punk, fuzzed out psychedelic garage rock is a pretty accurate description of the sound of this track. I’m almost even reminded of Geezer’s album, Groovy (2020), with the guitar work. Great track.
Oh wow, “Zodiac” seems to have a bit of a start as though you’re at the top of the largest hill of a roller coaster and you can see the descent down said hill, and then the song takes off. Holy smokes, this fuzzed out guitar solo is super groovy, and almost has a hard rock-inflected raga sound. Super groovy tune.
Oh wow, “Cherokee” feels like a tension-building intro to a high energy punk rock track, and then the drums and vocals come in to take this to a sort of heavy psych territory that I’m really digging. Oh wow, the riffs in this track from the bass and guitar are super groovy. Holy smokes, the tune seems to relax for a moment as the band seems to build up another strong groove, taking the tune further into heavy psych territory in the process. Great track.
Oh wow, “Brown Bread” almost has a bit of a mellower approach, which seems to lean further into the psychedelic nature of the album. Oh wow, the bass line has a super groovy tone, which seems to have a clean digital sort of sound that I’m really digging. Oh wow, the drums keep picking up in intensity. The instrumentation almost feels like if Nirvana wrote an explicitly psychedelic rock song, and I’m digging it. Great tune.
“Stranger Danger” starts out with a bit of ominous feedback that seems to create some tension that the band continues building on with the strong, groovy, fuzzed-out riffs that soon enter the soundscape. Oh wow, the riffs have a sort of laid-back heavy psych groove going that almost verges on stoner rock. Holy smokes, this guitar solo that comes in seems to have the fuzz dialed up to 11 with the knob broken off. Great track.
Holy smokes, “Colossus” comes in with some super heavy grooves and riffs from the band that seems to lean even further into the psychedelia in the album. Each song so far seems to be leaning more into psychedelic territory, and I’m continually pulled further into the album. Holy smokes, the intensity in the track gets raised even more during a brief and super flavorfully fuzzed-out guitar solo. I’m really digging this album so far. Holy smokes, everything but a fuzzy, mellow guitar riff falls out of the soundscape, almost as if they’re giving the listener a moment to catch their breathe. Awesome track.
Holy smokes, “Dream Chaser” starts out with some mellow acoustic guitar. I’m currently being pulled further into the album at this point. Oh wow, I’m really digging this track. The guitar and vocal mixture almost have a sort of dream-inducing psychedelic folk sound. Holy smokes, there’s some tremelo’d guitar that enters the soundscape, seemingly increasing the psychedelia of the track. Oh wow, more layers continually get added to the soundscape, most recently what sounds to be a cello of some sort that adds a droning, earthy sweetness to the backdrop of the track. Holy smokes, the track has become a super sweet, psychedelic rock tune as an electric guitar lets loose at the end of the song. Awesome track.
Oh wow, “Infinity X2” reintroduces the proto-punk sound from earlier in the album, and almost seems like the band is beginning to tie together the album, as if the band is pushing you gradually back to the top of the roller coaster hill through will, intensity, and fuzzed-out psychedelic riffs. Holy smokes, the band seems to get into a super groovy, downtempo, massive sounding movement in the latter portion of the tune that’s filled with a super sweet psychedelic guitar solo, what sounds to be some slow riffing from the bass guitar, and a super strong backbeat. Great tune.
Oh wow, “King Cobra” gets grooving again with a sort of riffing proto-punk sound at the beginning of the track, which is complemented nicely by the abundant sweetness from the vocals in this track. The tempo in this track seems to a bit less than the previous track, and to me feels as if the band is gradually easing you back to the top of that roller coaster hill once again. Holy smokes, the fuzzed-out guitar solo comes on and is backed by an increase in intensity and tempo in the accompanying instrumentation, feeling as though the band has you totally in a whirl at this point. Great track.
Oh wow, “The S****y Beatles” starts out with some fuzzed-out riffing and a really groovy beat that almost has a sort of heavy pop-like sound that I’m really digging. Maybe that’s just what I’m hearing with the Beatles in the song-title, however. Oh wow, the fuzzed-out guitar soloing is super groovy. Great tune.
Oh wow, “The Creeper” starts out with some muted notes from a guitar, and is soon joined by some easy riffing from the band and some super sweet vocals, as though you’re reached the top of the hill again but the band is somehow lifting you higher. Oh wow, I’m really digging this track so far. The soundscape almost feels looser in the sense that the band is letting you catch your breathe after the intense ride from the previous 10 tracks. I’m really digging the conclusory feeling in this track. Oh wow, the riffing seems to turn into some super spacey digital sounds that turn into a sort of peaceful drone as the tune nears the end. Wow, I really dig the ending of the track. Great tune and a great way to end this album.
Holy smokes, this album is pretty sweet. The heavy, proto-punk sounds at the start of the album seem to develop more and more far-out, psychedelic traits as the music continues, while the fuzzed-out riffs seem to be constant throughout much of the album. The intensity seems to ebb and flow at the whim of the band in such a way that I was glued to the edge of my seat throughout the listening experience. If you’re into proto-punk, and fuzzed-out heavy psych rock, you might want to consider checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely do hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A