The
Magnifiers - For the People
The
four song second EP release from Chicago based The Magnifiers isn’t your
average punk rock. The four piece consists of siblings ranging from seventeen
to ten years old and their 2014 debut Report Card announced the arrival of an
uniquely talented unit. The Dombrowski kids play with all of the expected
musical chemistry and the songwriting has a surprisingly sturdy quality that
hints at the extent of their combined talents. They are early on in their
careers, but they play with confidence and intelligence going far beyond their
years. They don’t play like a bunch of teenagers and pre-teens. Instead, The
Magnifiers play like an unit in their prime of their twenties and have poised
themselves for a brilliant future. This is a band, as well, that has the
potential to cross over in a big way; appearances in a Target commercial and in
an episode of The Aquabats Super Show are just the first of those possibilities
they’ve realized.
The
sort of talents that’s secured them those spots is obvious from the beginning.
“Mostly Harmless” has a delightfully playful edge. Rarely do The Magnifiers opt
for bludgeoning the listener with heavy guitar and the opener picks up the EP
with just the right amount of muscle and bounce. Eden Dombrowski is young, of
course, but she has some great edginess in her youthful voice while also
showing her capacity for playing up a chorus and making the most of melody. The
vast majority of the songs on For the People confine themselves between three
and four minutes in duration, but the performances never feel hurried. There’s
a sense, instead, of a band who knows what they want to accomplish with a given
performance and never waver about reaching those goals. Their one concession to
brusing guitars comes with the second song “TV Hat”. Elliot Dombrowski
unleashes torrid blasts of lead guitar, but Eden reaches the high level he
establishes with an electronically treated vocal that, nevertheless, snarls and
seethes with a fiery spirit. They offer up some soft pedaled social criticism
with this track but it has a sarcastic and dismissive tone that seems youthful
and intelligent all in the same breath. “Anarchy Sucks” shows off more of their
songwriting creativity, in some ways, than any other song included on For the
People. One might be tempted to call this track a spoof of sorts, mocking the
typical punk rock attitudes, but the song has a visceral instrumental
directness and great lyrics. The chorus is one of the EP’s high points and
carries the energy level to a whole other level.
“Transfiguration”
takes an unexpected turn in context with the preceding three tunes. The
Magnifiers abandon the sonic firepower fueling the first three songs in favor
of an acoustic track that brings For the People to a rather gentle,
surprisingly introspective ending. It seems cliché to say that the band
produces material far beyond their age group, but there’s no other way of
putting it. The four songs on For the People are geared to catch listeners’
attention and they definitely succeed. Wildly.
9
out of 10 stars
Shannon
Cowden
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