I’m going to get “Bon Iver-ed” by this band, I just know it. Let me explain. When the clever recluse (aka Justin Vernon) wandered out of his log cabin and onto the indie scene, I was asked to give his album a listen and subsequently review it. As an indie reviewer, a lot of what we hear can be hit or miss. After listening to For Emma, Forever Ago, I swore I’d never mind a screaming baby on a 7 hour flight again. I was not a fan, I couldn’t write the review. Call it “writer’s block”, call it lazy (I really should have stepped it up), but I was all set. That bearded flannel fool was the straw that sent me on a music writing hiatus.

(The Here We Go Magic [MySpace] review is coming… promise)

I walked around for weeks ranting and scoffing to anyone in my life who cared about music. A lot of my friends hadn’t heard of Bon Iver yet. Slowly but surely the name stuck; many gave it a listen and the consensus was that they didn’t mind it. There were rumblings. And then one fine afternoon I picked up my bad habit known as Rolling Stone and saw that they gave it four stars. I recall throwing the mag down, disgusted, and when my husband asked what was up, I made some snarky comment about RS needing a towel. And then Bon Iver infiltrated my life: top ten lists, all of my fave indie blogs, even the esteemed New Yorker ran a piece on Vernon.

“A religious experience! ”

“Unlike any music on the entire planet!”

“Puts Thom Yorke’s crooning to shame!”

These were just some of the nuggets that my eyes fell on as the weeks passed (these may be slight exaggerations…slight). I read them, all of them, and kept an open mind. Suddenly, I became completely insecure about the whole thing. Maybe my music ear was going deaf.

Listened again. And again.

I am still not sold.

I’m not sure why I can’t like it. People really love Vernon, love his music, love his weird little stories about living in a cabin, love that he is so “normal” in every definition of the word. It doesn’t make sense – I enjoy chopping wood (yes, I really do), I love acoustic guitar, I adore folk without twang, I have a weak spot for unrequited love lyrics – all signs indicate that I should become the Bon Iver’s “Mel” [Flight of the Conchords]

I can’t seem to shake this feeling of the whole thing being contrived. Or maybe I just can’t get into Vernon’s ethereal voice. Or the way I’m always being corrected on the band’s name pronunciation (when I do say it correctly, I almost always want to follow it up with a “oooooh”). Or maybe it’s a subliminal aversion to flannel and beards. It’s as if a horde of indie bands were waiting for this kind of breakout so they could sprout tufts on their faces and dust off their Eddie Vedder specials. Something within this “movement” lacks originality – and what I’m saying is a complete hypocrisy because I can’t point you to one band that sounds anything like Bon Iver (oooooh) before they seeped into the indie world.

This extensive backstory is the only way how I can best describe Here We Go Magic’s [MySpace] self-titled debut. I’m not saying it’s the next Bon Iver – it’s like Bon Iver for stoners. While it involves more electronic soundscapes than essences of getting back to the fat of the land, it maintains a certain That 70’s Show “circle scene” feel to it. The recording equipment is old-school, which is always a nice change from the crystal clarity of everything nowadays. The album also jams and bunnytrails and has a lot of repetition within each song. Ideal for hippies, but for the sober portion of the world, it’s background music at best. I’d rather Dylan. Either Dylan. Or Phish.

This album is going to Bon Iver me. My prediction includes a grassroots uprising, starting in Colorado. Then Vermont; a new kind of Oregon Trail! Then they’ll land Saturn commercials. Letterman. Bellbottoms. Daisy chains.

“This band puts The String Cheese Incident to shame!”

“Finally a progressive jam band!”

We learn on 60 Minutes that it’s on Obama’s iPod.

And this will be the moment that I fall in love with Forever Emma… and buy up all the skinny jeans on the clearance racks.

[mp3] Here We Go Magic - “Fangela”
[mp3] Here We Go Magic – “Tunnelvision”

Last 5 posts by Holly L. Perry

• Make Love, Not War - The (Subjective) Bedroom Mixtape - January 18th, 2010
• Yo Gabba Gabba - Music Is Awesome Review - December 9th, 2009
• Go Stuff Yourself - The Thanksgiving Mixtape - November 26th, 2009
• Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring Review - November 6th, 2009
• Volcano Choir - Unmap Review - October 15th, 2009