Magic City Hippies

One Liner: Kind of crappy white boy funk pop

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia entry, so funky indie pop?
Home:  Miami

Poster Position: 21
Day: Sunday at 11:15 am
Weekend Two Only.

Thoughts: I like the band name.  

I was hopeful that this was going to be Atlanta strip club rap music (the rappers like to talk about the famous Magic City club in Atlanta, where hot new hip hop breaks to the masses).  I then looked up Magic City to see what that had to do with anything.  Here is a list of the cities that have claimed this moniker:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Barberton, Ohio
• Billings, Montana
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Bogalusa, Louisiana
• Cheyenne, Wyoming
• Endicott, New York
• Florence, South Carolina
• Orlando, Florida
• Middlesboro, Kentucky
• Minot, North Dakota
• Moberly, Missouri
• Muncie, Indiana
• Roanoke, Virginia
• South Omaha, Nebraska

Huh.  Who knew that so many places were magic.  Funny thing, these guys aren't from any of those places.  They claim Miami as their home.  Anyway, this music is not hot new hip hop.

OK, well if they aren't strip club rap, then the fact that the band uses "Hippies" in their name, made me think this would be some shaggy jam band stuff.  Like Dr. Dog or Phish or some other hippie thing.  Nope - more like hipster white boy funk.  Not sure where the name comes in or has anything to do with anything, other than sounding cool.

This chunk of their website details the origin story, but still fails to describe where the name really came from:

Magic City Hippies began as a one-man band playing for the co-ed party scene on the streets of Miami — serenading the 20-somethings with a mix of old- school hip-hop covers and breezy pop originals.
After months of stealing electricity and stirring up crowds of passers-by with his loop-based setup, Robby Hunter was given an ultimatum by the local police: to cease and desist from street performance or to get a gig at a “real bar.” Finding sanctuary in the neighborhood dive, Hunter enlisted the support of multi-instrumentalists Pat Howard (drums) and John Coughlin (guitar) for a regular Friday night gig (that paid, of course, in free beer).
The trio dubbed themselves Robby Hunter Band and released a self-produced, widely acclaimed debut LP in 2013 entitled Magic City Hippies, which included the beachy Hype Machine-topper “Corazón” alongside indie blog hits ”Hard On Me” and “BUST.”

OK, and then this interview lends a little more light to the subject:

Why the band name change? Less narcissistic?

Ha, Ass. Yes. It’s a sensitive subject (not really). Honestly, we were affectionately dubbed Robby Hunter Band from playing the Cuda so many nights, and never having a real band name. We would always change our name to something the bouncer Charlie made up on the spot, or something we had been brewing up on the car ride over there. Magic City Hippies also came from an affectionate monicker: “Hippie Castle,” which is the name of the band's official residence — and naturally — the denizens of this lair are named “The Hippies."

So I guess he is just like my kids and doesn't understand what the word hippie actually means, so they're just going with it.  Whatever.  Let's get to the music.  The most listened to track on Spotify is the opening track from the 2015 Hippie Castle EP, called "Fanfare," with 5.8 million streams.

Sweet semi-porn video right there, fellas.  But this is what I heard back when I was wondering if this was going to be rap, and I was very sad.  I suppose it is rap, but just a very bad version.  I want to like that song, and bits of it appeal to me after a few listens, but overall I can't condone this music.

No full album, but they have released a few more recent singles, and I'll give you the most recent so that you can get a feel for what they will likely release soon as their full-length.  This is "Body Like a Weapon."  Has 13k streams.

More jenky hipster rap/singing stuff.  Kind of funky.  I like that angle they are going for with the instrumentation, but I can't get behind the sing/rap vocals or the kind of intentionally lame aesthetic.  This isn't my thing.

No thanks.  Of course they are weekend two only.  I'm hating the fact that I can't do weekend one right about now...