“We want the music to convey a feeling of both childlike wonder and of death, myth and the unknown.”
Muzzy Moskowitz
Some people enjoy red wine, but there’s a special class of people who go further, naming the exact grapes and valleys they want poured into their glass. So too, there are music fans, artists, and bands who can say with precision that they’re especially adherents of the “Canterbury sound,” a style of avant-garde, jazzy psych rock developed in Canterbury, England in the late 60s, early 70s.
Magic Fig is one of those bands. A new group comprised of folks who have already contributed much to the current Bay Area indie rock renaissance—through Almond Joy, Healing Potpourri, The Umbrellas, and Whitney’s Playland—Magic Fig will debut next week with their six-track self-titled album Magic Fig. From steady rising rock rhythms and double laser electric solos (“Obliteration”) to whimsical guitar licks and lullaby-like vocal lines (“Departure”), the album plays with weird prog rock flair while maintaining the easygoing reverie of an ancient child’s fable.
The band members all live in San Francisco but it’s equally an Oakland record since it was recorded at Santo Recording, released by Silver Current Records, and produced by psych rock whiz Joel Robinow (Howlin’ Rain, Once & Future Band). Maybe one day it will be referenced in the Wikipedia article for “Bay Area sound.”
The full album comes out next Friday, May 17 (pre-orders here). Watch videos for the two first singles “Goodbye Suzy” and “PS1” below:
