Magic User - Shadow On The Door (2024) Hi Res

Guitar-centric 4-piece Magic User spin their obsession with heavy 90's rock and garage pop into a lively, brilliant debut album called 'Shadow On The Door,' (out this December on Dandy Boy Records). The tracks wax and wane between jangling indie ballads and beefier riff-directed pieces, seizing on the contrast between the two guitars and the indomitable rhythm section. The album cements the band's ability to play in between shoegaze, twee, garage and post-punk, centered around their singular sound.

When singer and guitarist Jordan Martich began demoing these tunes as a bedroom-pop hobby during the pandemic in 2020 he was sure that they wouldn't go further than a folder on his laptop. Now, after a handful of shows in Oakland and San Francisco, the songs have been given new life by drummer Digger Barrett, guitarist Charles Thomas and bassist and backing vocalist Colin McDonald. As the demoed tracks were filled out by the group, they began to write new songs together that expanded the scope of the project, leaning into influences from Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and Teenage Fanclub.