Here We Go Magic
The January EP
Secretly Canadian
It would seem somewhat late in the game – now 40 + years on — for a band to want to emulate Yes, but damn if singer Luke Temple’s sonic soprano and the group’s giddy, percolating rhythms don’t bring to mind Close to the Edge and other epics from Jon Anderson and company’s earlier era. After a didactic intro, “Tulip” provides a catchy start to this six song EP, with “Hands in the Sky” offering shimmering assurance and a pulsating “Backwards Time” returning the set to full throttle. Not surprisingly then, the band seems intent on establishing a sort of atmospheric ambiance that gives a handle like Here We Go Magic plenty of credence. Indeed, it makes for a pleasant enough pastime, but when their precocious tendencies are taken too far and revert to new age doodling, as on the all-so-airy “Hollywood” and the EP’s epilogue, the aimless “Mirror Me,” the case for some solid songwriting becomes ever more compelling. A few clever bits and buoyant melodies can carry a band only so far, because as lofty and luminous as it aspires to be, January is a bit too murky to provide a real clear connection. – Lee Zimmerman
Lee Zimmerman is a contributor to a variety of publications, including Blurt, M Music & Musicians, New Times, Goldmine and Amplifier
This review appears courtesy of Amplifier, 50,000 Watts of Non-Stop Indie Rock http://amplifiermagazine.blogspot.com/
