Magic Bullets – What Took You So Long? from Corey Cunningham on Vimeo.

Magic Bullets gear up for their latest and final release in the form of Much Ado About, to be released on April 3, 2012.  This seven track EP comprises perhaps their best work yet.  The San Francisco quintet featuring Philip Benson (vocals), Corey Cunningham (guitar), Nathan Sweatt (bass), Sean McDonnell (keyboards), and Alex Kaiser (drums) dissolved last fall, playing their last show on August 24 at The Rickshaw Stop.  The three original members (Phil, Corey, and Nathan) had been playing together for 7 years as Magic Bullets before calling it quits as said incarnation.

But before they say their ‘so-long’s and ‘farewell’s, they’re leaving us with one more incredible EP recorded, mixed, and co-produced by Monte Vallier (Half Church/Swell).  The collection starts and ends with the sound of a cassette being placed in and taken out of a stereo, lending a nostalgic air of hearing an old mix tape from a good friend.  The album spans a breadth of emotion and style, displaying the eclectic influences that characterized their last record.  From the Luther Vandross and Chic leanings of “Common House Cats” to the William Ackerman inspired “No Longer There”, Much Ado About will delight fans who have already come to love the band’s broad approach to jangle-pop. Audiences who attended their set at SXSW last year and CMJ the year prior will likely recognize some tracks which were live favorites and were recorded in San Francisco in January and June of 2011.

Though the band thinks it was fun while it lasted, and maintain they may get back together some day…for now, we at least have a fucking great collection of tracks to remember them by.

Listen to the first single, “What Took You So Long?” here. 

Pre-order your copy here. 

Much Ado About

1. Unlearned
2. Time And Again
3. Common House Cats
4. Awful
5. What Took You So Long?
6. No Longer There
7. If You Touch Her

Magic Bullets were not only the first signing on my tiny label, but they were my favorite SF band for years.  I remember seeing them open up for Voxtrot at Great American Music Hall when I first moved back to the bay and thinking they blew the Austin band out of the water.  I followed their career as Magic Bullets from the very first release, and may be putting out their posthumous EP later this year (fingers crossed it doesn’t end up being posthumous).  It’s as a fan that I’m gutted.  They make amazing music as the Bullets, and I’ll miss their specific ways of song craftsmanship.

While we may not see any more of the Magic Bullets beyond Much Ado (the name of the EP mentioned above), in the meantime, they have a fantastic new project called Terry Malts whose next 7″ and LP releases will be on Slumberland Records.

The Bay Bridged wrote a fantastic article about the history and present state of Magic Bullets which you can read here.

And check out this video from their last show where they brought out some of their old tunes.  Really wish I could’ve been there.

We’re more than elated to announce the third release on Mon Amie Records!!  Wooden Indian Burial Ground hail from Portland, OR and are currently finishing up a full length to be released later this year.  In the meantime we’re priveleged to be bringing you this 10″ single featuring “Holy Mountain/Sunbeams and the Cosmic Ascent to Nowheresville” b/w “Another Nail, Boys!”

The Holy Mountain 45 rpm 10″ will feature two tracks lovingly pressed and enclosed in handprinted diecut sleeves.  Look for it in stores on August 16, 2011!  For a sneak peak of the garage-trash-folk-psychedelia to come, check out this video Justin D Fowler of WIBG Frankensteined together:

A NOTE FROM WIBG:

you’ve got shit on your boots and dandelions in yer hair…and you’ve
never looked better. it’s the cosmic ascent to nowheresville,
man…and summer’s on it’s way. feet stomp and hands clap to the
jingle jangle clack clack clack of a junk store piano. backyard
percussion stage left. theremin and fuzz guitar right over yonder.
marching bass in the rafters. reverb strikes from below. tape machines
and digital dreams. get lonesome. get happy. or just get. dirge.
ballad. instrumental. pop song in the the key of c. open up the flood
gates…

love, love, love,

-wooden indian burial ground

Terry Malts – Distracted by Slumberland Records