The Magic

Deerhoof’s third album for Polyvinyl strips away the experimental density of their earlier work in favor of pop-rock immediacy and melodic hooks that stick like candy. The Magic finds the Bay Area quartet balancing their signature rhythmic eccentricity—skittering drums, angular bass lines—with surprisingly straightforward song structures and Satomi Matsuzaki’s soaring vocals. It’s indie rock that refuses to choose between accessibility and strangeness, landing somewhere between prog-rock ambition and pure pop sensibility.