Reviewed by Paul J Zickler
Released: 1980 The Majik The Majik (AKA The Black Album) Genre: New Wave Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Where Is The Magic I Really Love You The Sound The Majik, a band shrouded in mystery. Multiple online sources claim they recorded and released two self-titled LP’s, one nicknamed “the White Album,” the other “the Black Album,” presumably because of their covers. Supposedly the first had a classic rock feel, the second a new wave vibe. Yet I could find no evidence that this “White Album” of theirs ever actually existed. No Discogs or AllMusic listing, no image of the cover, no track list, no songs scrobbled, nothing. As for the Black Album, there were supposedly ten songs on it, but only eight of them can be found on YouTube. Two additional songs were posted 8 years ago on Soundcloud, but only one of them is from the official Black Album tracklist. The other, titled Don’t Ask Me, is arguably one of the stronger Majik tracks out there. Enigmatic! [1] I’ve seen comparisons to The Cars and Talking Heads, both of which are apt, but I’d also throw in The Knack as a reference point. It’s music from 1980. The single was the album’s lead track, I Don’t Need You To Tell Me So, and it’s very much in the Ocasek/Orr mode: the verse bassline sounds exactly like Just What I Needed, until it throws in that one chord that makes it different. Vocals have that mannered delivery you want from a new wave hit, plus some harmony pops on the chorus. What’s missing is the sugary sweet Elliot Easton guitar solo and a hook strong enough to make it stand out from a million other new wave wannabes. Where Is The Magic is slightly darker and slightly better, featuring some well phased guitar riffs and a Knackish drum buildup and syllabic stutter on the chorus. I Really Love You throws together Power Pop chord changes and “Ooh la la” style backup vocals with jittery guitars and lead vocal inflections to good effect overall. Both of these clock in well under three minutes, yet give lead vocalist Art Devlin an opportunity to stretch out and emote. He’s a pretty good singer, even on the challenging closer, The Sound, where he has to spit out many of the lyrics, punk style, over a repeated rave up beat, climaxing in what sounds like a fake live audience. Still, it’s a solid finale. What we have left of The Majik is worth a few minutes of your time, especially if you're a waver, or even a wannabe waver. Half the songs and all of the highlights were written by drummer John Leper and guitarist Rich Rankin, while Devlin wrote the rest, none of which made much of an impact. Bass player Hoppy Riddle seems to be the owner of the band’s YouTube and Soundcloud pages, from what I can tell, but neither offer any info on whatever happened to the band. A deeper dive reveals a 12” single (Wake Up Everybody/East Coast Town) that came out in ‘77, and an EP released before the album in 1980. But none of these are the mythical “White Album.” Going even deeper, Sheffield discovered four MORE songs on YouTube that are posted with a photo of the Black Album, but they aren’t on any of the aforementioned releases. Curiouser and curiouser. In the end, you have to ask yourself what kind of person puts this much effort into figuring out what happened to a so-so band that apparently hasn’t existed in more than 40 years? A Listening Post Person, that’s who! ********** 1. Soundcloud link (warning, Soundcloud now puts 30-60 second ads before every song): https://soundcloud.com/william-hoppy-riddle/dont-ask-me?si=925e1bfadcca4ed8a83d01e2e0f45305&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
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