See You in Magic
Encyclopedia
See You in Magic is the debut album by the San Diego, California
rock
band The Night Marchers
, released in 2008 by Vagrant Records
and Swami Records
. The Night Marchers are the latest musical project of singer
/guitarist
John Reis
, previously of Pitchfork
, Drive Like Jehu
, Rocket from the Crypt
, the Hot Snakes
, and the Sultans. Reis announced the group's formation in August 2007, after all of his previous acts had broken up by January of that year. The band also includes Beehive and the Barracudas guitarist Gar Wood, CPC Gangbangs
bassist
Tommy Kitsos, and former Delta 72
drummer
Jason Kourkounis. Wood and Kourkounis had previously recorded and performed with Reis in the Hot Snakes. The band members are credited on the album using pseudonyms that they had used in their previous acts: Reis is credited as "Speedo" (his stage name in Rocket from the Crypt), Wood as "Dner" (Beehive and the Barracudas), Kitsos as "Skitsos" (CPC Gangbangs), and Kourkounis as "Jsinclair" (Hot Snakes).
In announcements leading up to the album, Reis described the sound of the music as an amalgamation of his previous bands and influences:
Critical response to the album has been generally positive. Tim Sendra of Allmusic rated it 4 out of 5, calling it "Pure, hard, fun and nasty rock & roll action" and "an album of rampaging hard rock that kicks hard and sticks with you like a monster hangover." Comparing the album to Reis' past musical efforts, he likens it most closely to the Sultans, saying of the music: "The guitars are taut and fierce, the drums pounding but not over-bearing, and the occasional shouted backing vocals mix well with Reis' powerful everyman vocal delivery. Reis' skill at crafting songs with hooky choruses has never deserted him and is strong as ever here."
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band The Night Marchers
The Night Marchers
The Night Marchers are an alternative rock band formed in 2007 in San Diego, California. The band is composed of singer/guitarist John Reis, guitarist Gar Wood, bassist Tommy Kitsos, and drummer Jason Kourkounis. Reis, Wood, and Kourkounis had previously performed together in the Hot Snakes, while...
, released in 2008 by Vagrant Records
Vagrant Records
Vagrant Records is an indie rock label based in Los Angeles, California and is home to such artists as The Hold Steady, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Active Child, PJ Harvey, Reptar, School of Seven Bells, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Thrice, James Vincent McMorrow, Placebo, and many...
and Swami Records
Swami Records
Swami Records is a San Diego based independent record label specializing in punk rock, indie rock and garage rock that was founded in 2000 by John Reis...
. The Night Marchers are the latest musical project of singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
John Reis
John Reis
John Reis is an American musician, singer, guitarist, record label owner, and disc jockey. He is best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band Rocket from the Crypt, which he formed and fronted for the entirety of its career from 1990 to 2005...
, previously of Pitchfork
Pitchfork (band)
Pitchfork was an American post-hardcore band formed in 1986 in San Diego, California and disbanded in 1990. They are most well known as the first "real" band of guitarist John Reis, who would later gain fame as the frontman in Rocket from the Crypt, and as the first collaboration between Reis and...
, Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore and alternative rock band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995. Formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis following the breakup of their band Pitchfork, the band's lineup also included bassist Mike Kennedy and...
, Rocket from the Crypt
Rocket from the Crypt
Rocket from the Crypt was an American rock band led by John Reis, formed in 1989 in San Diego, California and disbanded in 2005.The band gained critical praise and the attention of major record labels after the release of their 1992 album Circa: Now!, leading to a recording contract with Interscope...
, the Hot Snakes
Hot Snakes
Hot Snakes were an American post-hardcore band led by Rick Froberg and John Reis, formed in 1999 in San Diego, California and disbanded in 2005. Reis and Froberg had previously performed together in Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu, after which Reis had found international success with Rocket from the...
, and the Sultans. Reis announced the group's formation in August 2007, after all of his previous acts had broken up by January of that year. The band also includes Beehive and the Barracudas guitarist Gar Wood, CPC Gangbangs
CPC Gangbangs
CPC Gangbangs were a Montreal, Quebec-based garage punk band, with members of Les Sexareenos , The Spaceshits , Lyle Sheraton and the Daylight Lovers , Grime, and Milky Ways. The group's debut LP “Mutilation Nation” was released in 2007 on Swami Records...
bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Tommy Kitsos, and former Delta 72
The Delta 72
The Delta 72 were an American alternative music band formed in Washington, DC in the summer of 1994, later relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Jason Kourkounis. Wood and Kourkounis had previously recorded and performed with Reis in the Hot Snakes. The band members are credited on the album using pseudonyms that they had used in their previous acts: Reis is credited as "Speedo" (his stage name in Rocket from the Crypt), Wood as "Dner" (Beehive and the Barracudas), Kitsos as "Skitsos" (CPC Gangbangs), and Kourkounis as "Jsinclair" (Hot Snakes).
In announcements leading up to the album, Reis described the sound of the music as an amalgamation of his previous bands and influences:
"The sound is a combonation [sic] of everything I've been a part of dating back to my prepubescent days in Pitchfork. Similar to Hot Snakes but not as sinister yet still maintaining some of the drama and subsonic boom. Akin to the rockin' fun of RFTC but without the same kind of riffery. Like the Sultans but not as straightforward yet still maintaining the sense of melody and pop of the 2nd recordShipwrecked (album)Shipwrecked is the second and final album by the San Diego, California rock and roll band Sultans, released in 2004 by Swami Records. When the band reconvened to record the album in November 2003, original guitarist Andy Stamets chose not to rejoin the group...
. Occasional nods to the Flamin' Groovies, Real KidsThe Real KidsThe Real Kids were a Boston punk rock band led by guitarist, singer and songwriter, John Felice.Felice grew up in Natick, Massachusetts as a neighbor and friend of Jonathan Richman, a fellow fan of The Velvet Underground. At 15 he joined Richman in the first line-up of The Modern Lovers in the...
, ByrdsThe ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, boogie rockBoogie rockBoogie rock is a music genre which came out of the hard heavy blues rock of the late 1960s. It tends to feature a repetitive driving rhythm in place of instrumental experimentation found in the more progressive blues-rock bands of the period.-Definitions:...
era Status Quo, Bo DiddleyBo DiddleyEllas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
, Chess RecordsChess RecordsChess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
in general, WipersWipersThe Wipers were a punk rock group formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. Wipers were one of the earliest American purveyors of the genre, and the group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion has been hailed as extremely...
, Michael Yonkers and Shuggie OtisShuggie OtisShuggie Otis is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and multi-instrumentalist....
are evident to me."
Critical response to the album has been generally positive. Tim Sendra of Allmusic rated it 4 out of 5, calling it "Pure, hard, fun and nasty rock & roll action" and "an album of rampaging hard rock that kicks hard and sticks with you like a monster hangover." Comparing the album to Reis' past musical efforts, he likens it most closely to the Sultans, saying of the music: "The guitars are taut and fierce, the drums pounding but not over-bearing, and the occasional shouted backing vocals mix well with Reis' powerful everyman vocal delivery. Reis' skill at crafting songs with hooky choruses has never deserted him and is strong as ever here."
Track listing
All songs written by John ReisJohn Reis
John Reis is an American musician, singer, guitarist, record label owner, and disc jockey. He is best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band Rocket from the Crypt, which he formed and fronted for the entirety of its career from 1990 to 2005...
- "Closed for Inventory"
- "In Dead Sleep (I Snore ZZZZ)"
- "I Wanna Deadbeat You"
- "Jump in the Fire"
- "Branded"
- "Whose Lady R U?"
- "You'e Got Nerve"
- "Open Your Legs"
- "Bad Bloods"
- "And I Keep Holding On"
- "Total Bloodbath"
- "Panther in Crime"
- "We're Goin' Down"
Performers
- Speedo (John ReisJohn ReisJohn Reis is an American musician, singer, guitarist, record label owner, and disc jockey. He is best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band Rocket from the Crypt, which he formed and fronted for the entirety of its career from 1990 to 2005...
) - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, lead vocals - Dner (Gar Wood) - guitar, backing vocals
- Skitsos (Tommy Kitsos) - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Jsinclair (Jason Kourkounis) - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Studio personnel and recording details
- Recorded by Dave Gardner at City of Refuge and Seedy Underbelly, assisted by Adam
- Additional engineering by Eric Olsen
- Mixed by Ben Moore at City of Refuge
- Art, design, and band photo by Ben Goetting