Magic Wands take the Satellite someplace spacey

Kevin Bronson on
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No aliens were harmed during Magic Wands’ album-release show on Tuesday night at the Satellite. A few sensibilities, maybe.

The Silver Lake venue was decked out rather garishly in a tropical theme for the occasion – the band’s long-awaited debut “Aloha Moon” orbiting around the concept of an island in outer space, after all. But neither fake palm trees nor the “alien” standing sidestage waving a mysterious orb could detract from Magic Wands’ crisp set of moody, distortion-laden electro-pop. Whether dispensing melodic fuzz bombs or bouncy dance-pop, the quartet connected with the modest crowd even as the thunderheads from the stage’s smoke machine threatened to shroud them.

Not that the band – principals Chris and Dexy Valentine, now joined by Vega Schenk, and Aaron Sperske – would want to disappear. It was way back in 2009 that their EP “Magic Love & Dreams” (and the undeniable single “Black Magic”) put them on the map, and myriad woes including a computer crash that destroyed their sound files accounted for the long gestation period for “Aloha Moon.”

“Black Magic,” recently given a new life on TV, was there, right in the middle of Tuesday’s set (where it resides on the album), set up nicely by the woozy leadoff track “Kaleidoscope Hearts” and the crush-worthy “Teen Love.” Both Tuesday’s show and the album, however, saved the best for last; the new single “Space” has a bass line you feel could propel a sports car, and Dexy sings it like the top’s down.

If, behind the Valentines’ sunglasses, there was a sense of relief that their album-release day had come, you wouldn’t have known it. They’ve toured with the Kills, the Black Keys and the Raconteurs, and played festivals as well, so when a rep from their label Bright Antenna emerged with a cake to celebrate the “birth” of their album, it was as if a Martian landed. The cake was white, and reportedly overly sweet, but it was a nice touch. Magic Wands should enjoy a slice.

||| Stream: “Space”

||| Also: Visit RCRDLBL.com to download Magic Wands’ cover of Madonna’s “Burning Up.”