Magoo - Pop Songs

  by Jonjo McNeill

published: 16 / 1 / 2005

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Review

From playing alongside Ash and Snow Patrol to spending two and a half hours soundchecking for their Pennyblackmusic Bands night appearance, Magoo have been slowly making their name for the past few years. ‘Pop Songs’ is their fourth album, although it’s really only a mini album, but then it is on two CDs. Half of it is described as "psychedelic guitar crunching pop fury"’, whereas the rest is "deliciously cool acoustic Americana". They never were straightforward, so why should they start now? Disc One starts with ‘Robot Twin’, a splendid mix of Belle and Sebastian, the Flaming Lips and the Buzzcocks. It’s a pacy, fuzzy little number with a great mix of soaring punk guitars, squeaky beeps and endearing harmonies. It’s followed by ‘Laser Light Fury’, a sub-two minute stomper with a fantastic chorus. ‘Silver Surfer’ is almost prog, sounding very much like the band Mansun should have become, had they not lost the plot and become crap. 'We’re Not Superhuman’ brings us to the end of Disc One and whilst being twice as long as everything else on the record, still seems the most urgent. It actually sounds like a Top Ten single to me, the chorus (‘We’ll be jumping through hoops for you") is absolutely perfect pop, but retains the punk edge of it‘s disc-mates through the presence of a random, squeaky guitar/keyboard dogfight outro. Disc Two kicks off with ‘Radio Shack’, a tender combination of acoustic guitars, light piano and poppy harmonies. ‘Trust To Love’ is a trippy little loop-led ballad, the soothing vocals complemented by a twinkling music box. Magoo, however, are at their best on the closing two tracks. 'We Can Belong’ in particular is the perfect blend of pop and folk, a choppy acoustic breeze metamorphoses into a dream-like mid section to great effect. Closer 'Chicken Blows’ sounds very Beatles-esqe and tops the album off well. You can see why Magoo have made this a two part set. The difference between the two parts is incredible, it’s like two separate bands. It's difficult to say which is the better, as both have great merit. Magoo are clearly a band with an eclectic range of influences, a great passion for music, and a prodigious talent. Let’s hope they keep it up and bring us a full length LP soon.

Track Listing:-

1 Robot Twin
2 Laser Fight Fury
3 Silver Surfer
4 We're Not Superhuman
5 Radio Shack
6 Trust To Love
7 We Can Belong
8 Chicken Blows