The Magic Numbers
Alias
18 August 2014
Caroline
3.5 stars out of 5
Alias is the
fourth LP by English pop/rock band The Magic Numbers. Its elaborate
arrangements, at time baroque, at times progressive rock, recall an early ‘70s
English scene where complicated, meandering songs were the standard of the day.
The main difference here is that The Magic Numbers keep their subject matter to
the personal, whereas their forefathers were most frequently off in outer space
or in the dark centuries of the mythical English past of monarchs on
horsebacks, dragon slayers, and faeries. In addition, the two pairs of siblings—Angela
and Sean Gannon; Michele and Romeo Stodart—are far more under the spell of
American country music than King Crimson or Soft Machine ever were.
From the opener, “Wake Up,” Alias is an engaging, if not very challenging, elpee’s worth of
toons. It’s a finely crafted piece of pop/rock, but never transgresses into
what could be called “art rock.” While its arrangements often dive into the
complex or even obtuse, it’s all in the interest of supporting and reinforcing
the pop song structures which lie underneath; never do the band attempt
deconstruction or subversion of pop constructs or ideals. And that’s okay.
Perhaps The Magic Numbers were simply born fifty years too late—they should
have been working at the time that the Rat Pack were at their heights, or even
early Scott Walker. And then there’s “Thought I Wasn’t Ready,” a
string-saturated ode to The Carpenters, followed by the straight-up early ‘70s disco
that is “E.N.D.”
Clearly this band is adept at being shape-shifting
tricksters, but at every turn they’re recognizable as The Magic Numbers. The
four years they took off after 2010’s The
Runaway gave them time to put together a very strong collection of songs for
Alias.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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