Some Easy Magic

The second full-length from the Texas trio Fungi Girls sees them moving from their debut's nefarious, murky allure into a more crystallized and slightly brighter sound. These young men celebrate the psychedelia of yesteryear with murmuring bass lines, hissing cymbals, and reverb-saturated guitars that are more interested in kicking up garage rock fumes than exploring the far reaches of their (or your) cerebral cores. “Sabana Breeze” and “Some Easy Magic” exude a sundrenched surf vibe, but the mood's fraught with shards of barbed guitar lurking in the background. Tracks like “Lucie” and “Honeyface” want to be pop songs—in the same way The Jesus & Mary Chain was “pop”—but they’re tense, darkly infectious tunes that burrow rather than buoy. A song like “Velvet Days” (with its glorious windup to a mini solo/freakout that bursts open in day-glo color) has staying power, which we hope can also be said of this exciting band.