Album Reviews

If you’ve spent any time with Mrs. Magician’s 2012 debut Strange Heaven or its 2016 follow-up Bermuda, you already know the band - led by songwriter Jacob Turnbloom - has a real knack for crafting hook-heavy, sun-soaked, reverb-drenched power-pop songs with surf and punk undercurrents, nods to hammy Halloween pop (but like, in a good way), and lyrics that lean toward the darker side of life. The fact that John Reis (Rocket From the Crypt, Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu, and countless others) produced both records and released them through Swami Records never felt surprising. If anything, it felt inevitable.

Fast-forward ten years, plus a couple of existential crises, and Mrs. Magician returns with Spiritual Hangover, the album I hoped for but honestly never expected to hear. Recorded at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 and Singing Serpent Studios with producer Christian Cummings, these twelve songs are every bit as strong as the band’s earlier work. Lyrically, though, Turnbloom trades the youthful nihilism of the first two albums for something more reflective, grappling with uncertainty and adulthood without losing the band’s infectious energy.

Backed by Andrew Montoya (drums) and Mark Rivera (bass) of The Sess, Ian Fowles (guitar) of The Aquabats, and John Reis on guitar, Turnbloom is surrounded by the perfect cast as the band tears through twelve power-pop gems bursting with massive hooks and choruses bright enough to rival the California sun. The irresistibly upbeat “Die in Cleveland” sets the tone right off the bat, while the surfy “High Resolution” keeps the momentum going and even sneaks in an unexpected reference to Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing.”

Another standout arrives with the single “Dead Alive,” where Turnbloom’s wife, Tiffany Lizardi Turnbloom, steals the spotlight with a gorgeous melodic hook midway through the track. “Public Meltdown” emerges as a late-album highlight before Mrs. Magician closes things out with “The World Doesn’t Need Your Jive,” a song that somehow sounds like Weezer playing underwater. An odd description, maybe, but a fittingly strange and entirely satisfying ending to a triumphant return.

Spiritual Hangover track listing:

1. Die In Cleveland
2. High Resolution
3. Don't Wear Me Out
4. Fear Of The Living
5. Sanctuary
6. Dead Alive
7. Public Meltdown
8. Depression Song
9. One & Only Girl
10. Pill
11. The World Doesn't Need Your Jive