Magic Kids - Memphis

If Glee's soap opera bunch of nerdy misfits were truly hip and, y'know, happening, Magic Kids would definitely be rockin' their darned sock hop on a regular basis. While most kids get their sugar highs from handfuls of Skittles, this Memphis-based quintet got theirs with heavy doses of 60's and 70's orchestrated pop: the wall-of-sound theatrics of Phil Spector, the SoCal kitchen-sink production and stacked harmonies of Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, the Brill Building archives of classic, hook-heavy choruses (a la Neil Diamond and Carole King) and segueing nicely into the 70's Brit pop explosion of McCartney, Elton and especially ELO's Jeff Lynne. The band's debut album Memphis (August 31, True Panther) promises to be a tooth-achingly sweet but art-school calorie-rich celebration of unbridled, unapologetic retro pop.

Lead single "Summer" is a gangly jumble of nostalgic references with a melody that always seems to be evolving into something bigger, swerving and tumbling down one alley and then, on a dime, headed in a completely different direction altogether. Violins, piano, tympani and a girl-group vocal backup descend randomly on the geeky lovefest of sharp elbows, scuffed knees and frontman Bennett Foster's perfectly modulated singing. Engineered by Shane Stonebeck (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells), "Summer" moves Magic Kids boldly beyond the tinny Ronettes/Beach Boys schtick of their early singles "Hey Boy" and "Superball" and well into the realm of sophisticated songwriting and arrangements. More, please. Recommended.

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Magic Kids - "Summer" (from the album Memphis)

Magic Kids - "Hey Boy" (Single)