Magoo are a King's Lynn based four-piece, formed in 1993. Originally, they were a five-piece, but bass player Catherine left, as she was pregnant. They are influenced by The Boo Radleys, Stereolab, The Flaming Lips, Sebadoh, The Fall and Pavement, so imagine a cross between all those bands (even if it may be a bit difficult to imagine) and you get a fair idea of what they sound like. Their demos and their track on the Noisebox Records compilation Backwater Three have attracted the interest of various labels, some being majors. They have also supported a fair few biggish bands, including Gene, Drugstore, 60ft Dolls, Man Or Astroman?, The Nubiles and Ash. Numerous magazines and fanzines have given them excellent reviews. Magoo's debut single, Mudshark EP, has just been released. It's a three track, numbered, orange vinyl 7", also on Noisebox. I'd heard descriptions of Magoo that made them sound like a cross between a shoegazer band and a grunge band. I thought "nah," until I heard this. A strange comparison, perhaps, but then Magoo just don't sound like every other band. Tom, Lou and Me best fits the shoegazer/grunge description, and is, to me, not only the best track on the single, but the best I've heard from Magoo.

It starts off reminding me of Antiseptic Beauty, or perhaps a more well known band in the same vein, and towards the end it dissolves into a torrent of eardrum-destroying noise. Pop Your Mouth is more like earlier Magoo material, except it ends with a modern-classical type piano solo. I can highly recommend this single, as well as the demo tape and Don't Stop To Think (from Backwater Three). It's all excellent stuff.

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