Magic Man

The Melodic Tree’s Weekly Playlist

1. Seasons (Waiting On You) – Future Islands

2. Sleep – Summer Heart

3. Like A River Run – Bleachers

4. Keep in the Dark – Temples

5. Down and Out – The Griswolds

6. I’ve Had It Up To Here – Weezer

7. Do You – Spoon

8. Heartache Fetish – Young & Sick

9. Pseudologia Fantastica – Foster the People

10. Lampshades on Fire – Modest Mouse

11. Crystalized – Young the Giant

12. Honeymoon – SomeKindaWonderful

13. In the Summer – Finish Ticket

14. Through the Dark – The Mowgli’s

15. Texas – Magic Man

16. Karaoke – Smallpools

17. Kathleen – Catfish and the Bottlemen

18. Fiona Coyne – Saint Pepsi

19. Uma – Panama Wedding

20. Red Eyes – The War on Drugs

Smallpools, Magic Man, and Panama Wedding at Emo’s (Live Review)

On November 13th, Smallpools performed at Emo’s in Austin, Texas with Magic Man and Panama Wedding. As this was their first headlining tour, it came with much excitement that they were coming through Texas.

Being a year and a half old, the band has received much critical reception for their EP, Have a Great Summer!, it comes to no surprise that the band has flown under everyone’s radar. Personally, having seen the band twice already open for Grouplove and Neon Trees, I already could tell the show was going to be fun and energetic, especially since they were going to perform songs from their new album, which, they hope, will come out early next year.

Originally, the three bands were billed to perform at the Parish in Austin, however, they soon changed it to Emo’s in order to fit a larger crowd.

Panama Wedding was the first band to come on that night and raised the spirits on the shivering crowd. Known for their two singles, “Uma” and “All the People,” Panama Wedding has a very 80’s synth-pop sound to them. The band performed songs from their Parallel Play EP and had an enthusiastic performance overall.

Magic Man, the synth-pop band behind Before the Waves, played after Panama Wedding and danced their set away. Opening with the opening track from their album,”Texas,” and ending with their hit, “Paris,” Magic Man got the crowd going and singing along. Lead singer, Alex Caplow seemed to never stand still, moving and dancing to the music.

Smallpools set, in the slightest of terms, started in grand terms. Walking on stage, Beau Kuther, drummer, Michael Kamerman, guitarist, and Joseph Intile, bassist, it seemed like an odd choice for the band to enter with classical music. But, once Sean Scanlon, singer got on top of an amplifier in a shirt and dress coat, pretending to conduct, it all came together. After this grandiose entrance, Smallpools went into “No Story Time.” The energy in the room sky-rocketed from this entrance and went on for the entire set.

The set included songs from their EP and new songs from their upcoming album, including “Bruce Lee.” The onstage banter was enjoyable as the band made witty remarks and interacted with the crowd. Scanlon told a story about how in the beginnings of the band, they would search for themselves online only to find rants about killer whales being kept in small pools. This, incidentally, lead to their latest single, “Killer Whales.” As usual, the band threw inflatable killer whales into the crowd, including a massive one with the band name spray painted onto the stomach. As an ongoing tradition, before the band performed their last song, “Dreaming,” they took a picture of the crowd with their two small dogs.

All three bands had lively sets and it will be interesting how each of them will do next.

Smallpools Magic Man and Panama Wedding live at Emo’s (Austin, Tx) in photos

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Sour Patch Kids opens home for musicians in Brooklyn

Brand sponsors have been intertwining themselves with band, especially shown in U2’s most recent partnership with Apple. The latest in corporate sponsorships is Sour Patch Kids with a four bedroom house that shelters touring indie rock bands.

The candy brand opened the Brooklyn Patch, a home in the Clinton Hill neighborhood where bands can stay while touring.

The Mondelez marketing director Farrah Bezner says the company’s “target consumer” is music-loving teenagers, and this house is part of a new strategy. “We wanted to be able to contribute, you have to break culture to make culture,” Bezner explains. As part of the deal with the company, while staying at the four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom house will be requested to content that can be shared on Sour Patch’s social networks.

Magic Man and Deer Tick are among several bands who have already signed up to stay at the Brooklyn Patch.

Smallpools Release New Song and Announce Tour

Smallpools, LA-based indie pop band, announced tour with Panama Wedding and Magic Man. It is their first headlining tour, opening for bands such as Neon Trees and Grouplove. As well as announcing the tour, Smallpools released a new song, “Killer Whale” which is available for free on Soundcloud and for streaming on Hype Machine.

Smallpools are Sean Scanlon on vocals, Mike Kamerman on guitar, Joseph Intile on bass and Beau Kuther on drums. They are planning on releasing their first full-length album soon.

Before the Waves – Magic Man

Magic Man’s debut album, Before the Waves, provides the seemingly perfect addition to any summer soundtrack. Released on July 8 on Columbia Records, this debut has solid electric beats combined with breezy vocals and fun synthesizer melodies and it seems to give the sound of the season. The Boston native Magic Man consists of Alex Caplow on vocals, Sam Vanderhoop Lee on guitars and keyboards, Justine Bowe on keyboard and Joey Sulkowski on drums. Produced by Alex Aldi, who has also worked with bands such as Passion Pit, there is no doubt that influences from these bands drifted onto Before the Waves.

The vocals on this album are memorable as Caplow sings about not wanting to give up on something quite yet and of course, love. With upbeat backing vocals, Before the Waves has a cheerful mood to it progresses through its twelve tracks. In the song, “Every Day,” Caplow seems to share a similar vocal aesthetic with Danielle Haim from Haim in the sense that in this track, both have a similar staccato way of singing.

The synth-driven melodies throughout Before the Waves sets the mood and tone of every song on the album, whether or not it is obvious. Although this type of melodies can tend to become generic over time, Magic Man has a unique twist in their sound that sets them apart from other synthpop bands such as MGMT and Passion Pit. Blending interesting guitar riffs (often times more subtle than the synthesizer) and energetic synthesizer melodies and rhythms.

Before the Waves shows that Magic Man is an essential on any playlist this summer. Before going on tour this summer with Walk the Moon and Panic! at the Disco, Magic Man are on their own west coast tour this week. Magic Man, with their catchy synth-driven music, are definitely not a new band to miss this year.