I want to tell you about The Magic Kids.

Not that I know anything about them other than they’re from Memphis, Tennessee and the lead singer wears sky blue socks.

And they’re a 5-piece outfit (all boys) currently touring with the headlining Girls and Smith Westerns. And while all the bands were worth catching, The Magic Kids’ short set sandwiched between the other two really impressed me. They couldn’t have played more than 25 minutes because I looked back at The Earl’s red neon clock as they were almost finished setting up and it said: 10:54. And then when I looked back as they walked off it said: 11:20. So in less than 25 minutes their energy, enthusiasm and eclectic song arrangements had snagged my curiosity.

The essence of the songs was mid-60’s pop: sort of like those pseudo Burt Bacharach compositions that Belle and Sebastian has excelled at at times only without the fey vocals. And the rhythm section was more propulsive. Like the Motown house band that used to play behind The Supremes and The Temptations. Except that they’re not black but just white kids who like to play. (Although, it did look at times as if the bassist could dance like the members of Prince’s Revolution used to do.)

They also brought to mind Echo and The Bunnymen but I think that’s just a visual allusion that I got from watching the lead singer sing. The Magic Kids have much better lyrics than Echo and The Bunnymen ever did. (Lyrics always were Echo’s Achilles Heel).

There were also some weird, keyboard-laden interludes with the singer warbling “Magic Kids!” and just as you were wondering if this was some other direction that the set might veer off into, another sharply arranged pop song would emerge.

More of an impressionistic review than informative, but take it from me, if you get a chance to see The Magic Kids, don’t miss the show!