Naughties hype is back (and justified) as RIP Magic finally drop a glorious deuce

It’s tragedy that RIP Magic are with us 12 years too late for Hipster Runoff to write a pissy missive laced with existential rhetorics on the nature of “indie”, “brand” and “buzz”. The soundcloud link for the London band’s demos has been doing the rounds across the industry for the last six months alongside regular live slots announced in DIY scrawls on hand-made posters and slots at Wide Awake and The Great Escape.

Marco Pini - taking a break from his other band Sorry – and visual artist Felix Bayley-Higgins have already spoken out about their project’s reputation in a strategically placed Guardian piece (buzz!) last year: “Don’t overthink it,” which is generally the kind of signalling a band who have most definitely over-thunk it tend to say a lot.

“Loot” and “Dox” in their final form are – thankfully – a warm tug of joy and and anything but beige. Maximalist and swaggy, with cut-and-paste proggy chugs, metallic-sheen and a no-fucks-given Trent Reznor-lite vocal buried in there somewhere, it’s the kind of Rorschach-core sound that’s become a defining factor in the more interesting parts of the capital’s post-pandemic live scene. We have absolutely no notes: this shit is tight and the sound of something you need in your life.