Magoo - The All Amusement Electric Arcade

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 18 / 7 / 2006

---

Review

Magoo’s first album since 2002’s 'Realist Week' opens with a cacophony of samples before kicking in with the synth-drum intro of ‘Micronaut’. The song is pure electro-pop with a catchy chorus, but doesn’t quite kick in enough for my liking; it’s a great song, and it’s certainly danceable, but I personally think it needs more thrust in the chorus. Second track ‘It’s Apparent’ is a really great semi-acoustic psychedelic song, with just the right mix of sweetness and edge to make it quite fantastic. ‘Can’t Get off the Ground Today’ is one of my favourites on the record; a much more restrained, beautiful melody is accompanied by the band's excellent dreamy synths, which feature wonderfully again later, on the track ‘Lana Turner’. These tracks alone make the record worth buying. Other high points are the manic-electro rock of ‘Superteen Scene’ (which kicks in at the chorus perfectly, thank you very much), ‘Expansion Ride’, ‘Golden Tones’ and album closer ‘Song of Birds’. 'The All Electric Amusement Arcade', as it’s name might suggest, is much more electro than other Magoo albums, which have featured more psychedelic rock and wonky indie pop, but the end result is as brilliant as ever. Some might find the use of synthesised vocals on a few of the songs a bit tiring after a while, but otherwise I would say this record pretty much has something for everyone.

Track Listing:-

1 Welcome
2 Micronaut
3 It's apparent
4 Can't get off the ground
5 Kamikaze condor crash
6 Superteen scene
7 Golden tones
8 Lana Turner
9 Nite per second
10 Expansive ride
11 Trust to love
12 You make my good days
13 Song of birds