02] trust to love

03] we can belong

04] chicken blows

press review from unpeeled :

MAGOO "POPSONGS" (MAYGOZERO)

Ferociously sweet noises, far too tough to be pop, far too cute to be rock.

Take the opener, "Robot Twin" vaguely Bowie-ish but with a lead ton of sheer flash and brain-rotting catchiness & it's round about now I begin to realise how bad for popular culture in general and popular music in particular all that Pop Idol shite is. Everyday I hear tunes that should be bothering the charts & every one of the tunes on this release should be denting our national charts, not the pissy indie versions, but the real thing.

The glam-slam,big pop-rock noise called "Silver Surfer" should be number one for a couple of weeks, it rocks, it throbs, it's got all of those cheap, cheesy, but last forever qualities that all great POP songs have, riffs, hooks, melody, yadda, yadda and it won't get a fucking look in because Sharon Osbourne & Louis Walsh are both after the same brickie who-would-be-pop-king-for-a-month.

It's easy to say 'buy this record', so I will, buy this record, but more important yet, tell your mates about this and other records. "Popsongs" is a cracking set of tunes by any measure.

"Popsongs" is a set of very accessible tunes. So access them and crack the crap monopoly.

press review from damnpest :

Magoo have been around for twelve years and produced seven sessions down at Peel Acres without breaking into the consciousness of too many purveyors of sonic psychadelia. Persistance may be about to pay off though on the run up to their fourth album as their home town of Norwich becomes the epicentre of all things unique and refreshing in old Blighty at the moment. The plus signs multiply in the knowledge that their own Sickroom studios have produced albums by two of the most exciting bands of 2004 in Bearsuit and The Broken Family Band.

'Pop songs' is a schizophrenic prelude to fourth album 'The All Electric Amusement Arcade' due for release in May 2005. It is a two headed monster comprising two CDs, the first one throws up energetic, snappy, high octane outbursts, fronted by Andrew Rayners' high pitched vocals which have been compared to Placebo, don't be fooled, Magoo are much more vital and engrossing than that rubbish. 'Robot Twin' is a fucked up fairground ride with dodgems wild enough to administer severe whiplash. The songs hit you straight in the midriff; you wince and wonder why you haven't noticed Magoo before. 'Criminally underrated', 'maybe the finest band in the country', the music press have proclaimed and with justification.

CD2 shows the sophisticated, introspective side of Magoo. Acoustic gems which journey from the euphoric, almost polyphonic spree glee of 'Radio Shack' to the chilled out, stoned expansiveness of 'Chicken Blows'. The two sides of Magoo are intertwined though in that wonderful spaced out experimentalist nature they possess and 2005 may well be the year we realise this is the only British band that can compete with the American purveyors of introspection, Grandaddy and the Flaming Lips.

damnpest.com

press review from joyzine :

DIY pop fanatics who revel in the joy of music-making … Pop Songs is a stop-gap mini album released as a prelude to their imminent fourth album The All Electric Amusement Arcade which is due out in the Spring.

Magoo have always been the indiest of indie bands: from an early often-cited gig at a semi-legendary indoor Go-Kart track in Norwich (more band members than fans type-affair…); to recording for uber-cool labels Chemikal Underground and Fierce Panda; through to John Peel playing one of their singles 7 times in the space of 8 consecutive programmes… That’s why we loved John Peel, and that’s why we should cherish Magoo.

For the uninitiated, Magoo play shimmering underground pop comparable with fellow Britpop never-weres like Super Furry Animals, Beta Band, and the Boo Radleys. The press release insists that the first half of the album (technically two EPs glued together) consists of “foot-on-amp, riff-ridden, guitar-searing psychedelic noise-rock anthems” which stretches things a little. No amount of guitar-squall or skew-whiff fuzz can disguise the fact that inside Magoo beats a big, shiny pop heart. And, just for the record, Magoo are much more Syd than Sid. They’ve often been compared to marginal US bands like Guided By Voices and the Flaming Lips, and ‘Silver Surfer’ is probably the best song about a superhero since the Lips own ‘Waiting For A Superman’. They may think that “Jesus/doesn’t need us” but us indie-kids do. If the first half is all bounce and thickness – basement fun, then the second half is more relaxed – wired beats and fuzzed-out grooves. ‘Radio Shack’ is a particular gem – a delicate lesson in selling Americana back to the Americans. Aside from the artists I’ve already mentioned, Pop Songs heavy dose of lite psyche also reminds me of Jack Drag’s superb, but largely-ignored Soft Songs LP which came out about five years ago on Shifty Disco. Fans would be well-advised to check it out if they can find a copy. But I digress… Possibly the best track of all is ‘Chicken Blows’ a lovingly-crafted cover of an old Guided By Voices song which is a truly fantastic tribute to Bob Pollard’s now-defunct pop oddballs. Maybe one day Magoo will end up drunk and confused cavorting around in Strokes videos, before calling it a day. It’s possibly the only chance of them appearing on MTV2 in the near future at any rate. Hopefully, one day someone will return the favour and cover one of Magoo’s Pop Songs this well.

In the mean time, gorge yourself – this is pop sugary enough to rot your teeth, and it tastes great!

press review from vanity project :

If it were a boot, it would be silver sequined, but made to be worn with t-shirt and jeans. The foot in boot can always be felt hovering over the brake as Magoo career along, but they just keep hurtling. That's what it is. Hurtle-rock! Perhaps spiro-indie? Helio-pop? The music and quasi-androgynous vocals seem on a perpetual spiral with no beginning nor end. Sure they slow it down from time to time, but more often than not it's like the history of glam rock jam-packed and overlapping on a 33. Then played at 45. A double CD EP/mini-album (effectively) this is magical, thrilling stuff. That they continue to make little impression on the masses is plain WRONG.

press review from penny black music :

From playing alongside Ash and Snow Patrol to spending two and a half hours soundchecking for their Pennyblackmusic Bands night appearance, Magoo have been slowly making their name for the past few years. ‘Pop Songs’ is their fourth album, although it’s really only a mini album, but then it is on two CDs. Half of it is described as "psychedelic guitar crunching pop fury"’, whereas the rest is "deliciously cool acoustic Americana". They never were straightforward, so why should they start now?

Disc One starts with ‘Robot Twin’, a splendid mix of Belle and Sebastian, the Flaming Lips and the Buzzcocks. It’s a pacy, fuzzy little number with a great mix of soaring punk guitars, squeaky beeps and endearing harmonies. It’s followed by ‘Laser Light Fury’, a sub-two minute stomper with a fantastic chorus. ‘Silver Surfer’ is almost prog, sounding very much like the band Mansun should have become, had they not lost the plot and become crap. 'We’re Not Superhuman’ brings us to the end of Disc One and whilst being twice as long as everything else on the record, still seems the most urgent. It actually sounds like a Top Ten single to me, the chorus (‘We’ll be jumping through hoops for you") is absolutely perfect pop, but retains the punk edge of it‘s disc-mates through the presence of a random, squeaky guitar/keyboard dogfight outro.

Disc Two kicks off with ‘Radio Shack’, a tender combination of acoustic guitars, light piano and poppy harmonies. ‘Trust To Love’ is a trippy little loop-led ballad, the soothing vocals complemented by a twinkling music box. Magoo, however, are at their best on the closing two tracks. 'We Can Belong’ in particular is the perfect blend of pop and folk, a choppy acoustic breeze metamorphoses into a dream-like mid section to great effect. Closer 'Chicken Blows’ sounds very Beatles-esqe and tops the album off well.

You can see why Magoo have made this a two part set. The difference between the two parts is incredible, it’s like two separate bands. It's difficult to say which is the better, as both have great merit. Magoo are clearly a band with an eclectic range of influences, a great passion for music, and a prodigious talent. Let’s hope they keep it up and bring us a full length LP soon.