Openers: Get There Early For Magic Bullets

David Bornfriend www.davidbornfriend.com

​"Openers" researches the best opening bands in San Francisco each week and tells you why it's worth showing up early to catch them. Our latest pick: Magic Bullets.

In a non-musical context, "Magic Bullet(s)" can refer to, among other things, a blender-like device whose absurdly enthusiastic info-mertials made for a viral culture footnote, or a trashy guide to seducing women. We're not sure whether any of these lowbrow dregs inspired the name of the new wave-y San Francisco band opening for Wild Beasts at the Independent Thursday night, but we think their familiar '80s shimmer should kick things off right.

Magic Bullets' vocal melodies swell and linger athletically over lean, sparkling guitar lines, with reflective lyrics that sound like they could have been written by Morrissey after an extended West Coast holiday. But as much as the band recalls the Smiths, branding it a simple knockoff would sell the music short. The song "Heatstroke," for example, moves the group's moody Manchester sound toward Nor-Cal dream-pop territory, with aching lyrics that tackle ills more public than the private pains over which Morrissey loved to obsess. With elegant sounds and sophistication to spare, this band may instill that tired "Magic Bullet" idea with yet another pop culture meaning.

Magic Bullets
Thursday, Feb. 11 at the Independent with Wild Beasts