sarah
By David Carlson
Nobody does punk like Montpelier. Hear me out …
For 50 years, punk rock has sat squarely against the status quo, rejecting the mainstream, creating an inclusive space for musicians, fans, and activists to create unarguably powerful, energetic art. This genre’s pedigree is contemporary with disco and smooth jazz, and predates the pop and grunge of the 80s and 90s; all of which continue to hold a little too much space on the airwaves.
Magic User’s new EP “*FREE PILE” is a refreshing emergence of punk culture, growing out of the heart of the Green Mountains. This album is true to form punk rock that extends through eight tracks of raw, catchy, high-energy beats framing up a coherent and accessible arrangement of lyrical poetry.
The four-piece from Montpelier has been writing songs and performing as Magic User since 2018, although their history together predates that. The band consists of Mandy Przybylak on synthesizers, vocals, and saw (yes, saw), Nate Ingham on bass and lead vocals, Jacob Grayck playing alto and baritone saxophone, and Jeff Thompson on drums. Three of the band’s members collectively own Montpelier’s Naive Melody Instrument Exchange, an idea that sprang out of one of their band practices.
The opening track “Bullhorns in Bed” starts things off with an offbeat stutter, then dives into an overlay of chanted slogans and steady rhythms, setting the stage for the next 23 minutes. “Community is resistance” is a familiar lament in our part of the world. It feels like it might even be true shouted at 125 BPM.
The landscape shifts from protests to introspection with “Sit Like a Girl,” a candid confessional that credits past bullies for their awareness of victims’ blind spots. Here, rooted synth tones are introduced while expanding the gang vocals to the whole band, challenging outdated gender paradigms, calling for haters to “Get a new insult.”
In arguably the most sonically textured track in the collection, “800 hrs” takes on the status quo, planting itself in the present and taking aim at the past with “Some traditions really oughta die” and “Not here to please you, not here to feed your ego fire.”
All eight tracks are worthy of a play-by-play, as each of them stands on its own. The arrangement is a bit off center, with gritty metallic bass confidently filling the void of what normally might be an over-indulgent rhythm guitar, while horn lines carry the melodic anthems through refrains. That eccentricity staves off the monotony that could plague a less carefully crafted set of songs, allowing the energy to stay high from start to finish. This album is musically accessible, competently arranged and produced, and skillfully created by artists in our community.
Free piles are an institution in our neighborhoods. Any sunny Saturday will have a dozen or more conglomerations of furniture, toys, books, and anything else good enough to keep going in the world. We set things out there to connect them with a new future.
Magic User sets this album out for us to pick up, following a current trend shunning the likes of Spotify for an exclusive release on Bandcamp. The album is set to be released there on Dec. 15, but you can stream the first track, “Bullhorns in Bed” in the meantime: magicuservt.bandcamp.com/album/free-pile-2. There are options to pre-order the album as digital download, CD, and vinyl and to support their Kickstarter as a patron.
