Magic Fig are the latest configuration to emerge from San Fran's currently super-abundant underbelly (has there ever been a time when it wasn't?), featuring some familiar faces from Whitney's Playland, Almond Joy and, most notably for me, The Umbrella's Matthew Ferrara. Back in March, Matt told me Magic Fig was a 'Canterbury scene type experiment', and he's not really missed the mark too much with that assessment. There's a fair bit of psych-y squirming and turning on display across he's six tracks, but sunkissed in ways a band hailing from the West Coast of America and not Cambridge can be. The production is technicolour to say the least, and Inna Showalter's vocals jump out the speakers like Broadcast on all the uppers. You can instantly see why all five players here will have taken a break from their parent bands to make this music, the results noticeably more hi-fi and maximalist than much of what else we're used to hearing from the Bay Area at present, while still making nods to California's musical heritage - they might be thinking Canterbury, but they've got their own version of that on their doorstep in LA with West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and The United States of America, the influence of whom both shine brightly here. Genuine joie de vivre exuberance on display here, and always a pleasure to experience.
