Search - Magic Bullets :: a CHILD but in life yet a DOCTOR in love

A return to high romance over sex

S. Flavius Mercurius | San Francisco, CA | 08/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the beginning was the shades. Well, strictly, before the beginning there was The Cosmos, lower class punks in love with Can , but more in love with The Beatles. Melody *and* mayhem. Then there were the shades, worn like Paul Haig's, a cocky snook at macho city life and the minor chord regime. "It's not subversive to be aggressive anymore," the boys told the comics. "It's the sensual that matters now.. We don't like violence. We'd like to tickle people to death". And then there was Magic Bullets, The Sound Of Young San Francisco. Not an indie rock band, but a minor major-chord band. There were singles - "Heatstroke", "Yesterday's Seen Better Days", and "New Kicks" - classics, all over the place and hardly in the shops, limited editions with massive appeal, hybrids of The Bodines, Orange Juice, Teardrop Explodes and... well, Magic Bullets. Philip's plum-in-cheek vocals, timing all out, spirit a-go-go. The slogan was "A Tonic For The Times". Pro-"fun". Adding zip to the zeitgeist. "We sometimes use blatant rock cliches," the fellas kidded on, "but that's just to parody them. It's time to take a stand for campness in the sense of fun and joie de vivre." A return to high romance over sex, that was the gimmick. A switch from minor to major, that was the movement. The mild acting as abrasive. The polite revolt. The meek shall inherit the earth. "More often than not, Magic Bullets' music is pretty messy, but I like that," one of the boys boasted. Everyone else was starching their favorite shirts. Magic Bullets deadpanned, so pure, yet so perverse. Oh, and many strings were broken on stage, many endings mistimed, many cock-ups overcome by the sweet-talking singer. Magic Bullets live are, at worst, an event and, at best, an occasion. A one-off experience. Your very own. - Steve Sutherland"