Hit Me With Your Magic Stick

No idea where this band is from or who it consists of, since their site has very little info apart from when they're touring and what singles they've released. What I do know is that The Magic Wands are seriously hot property, following in the slightly retro footsteps of the likes of Ladyhawke and Black Kids to create a world of fantasy, dreamy pop.

I was first attracted to them thanks to their single "Black Magic" which swaggers along with a killer riff and echoing vocals - certainly the most dangerous of all their floaty pop-rock songs. "Kiss Me Dead" is unusually joyful despite the rather dark subject matter but then I seem to pick my music in this way - you've got to bear in mind that I'm a fan of Asobi Seksu and The Sugarcubes!

This definitely isn't shoegazing rock though, it's setting out a bit of a league of its own. Distinctly less sugary than Black Kids and yet there's something quite sickly underneath it all - but not in a bad way of course. Other favourite tracks of mine include "Kaleidoscope Hearts" and "Starships". I like the distance of the vocals - sometimes it just doesn't work but here it works wonderfully. The lack of immediacy and in-your-face quality just makes everything better while other bands could suffer from not having the singers right in the mix. The overall effect is that the vocals blend lovingly into the music, so you can appreciate both on an equal level.

The production on some of the tracks on their MySpace site is a bit questionable, but hey if it gets ironed out then it could be a good prospect for the future - they're already touring with Black Kids so I see no reason why they shouldn't be big on the indie scene.