MAGIC! Revels In Being Rude

Is it possible for pre-marriage proposal dramatics to be stretched out into a reggae cute pop phenomenon? The answer it would appear is yes. Here now to provide a respite from Justin Bieber doing everything possible to alienate as many people as possible is MAGIC!, another Canadian act that does taffy pull contortions with the basic act of reacting to a parent turning aside a request a young man has to take his daughter's hand in marriage. The question of the hour is "Why you gotta' be so rude." Not an unusual question but there is a little novelty quaint to the way MAGIC! brings it to the table. Bonus points for giving Dad various ways to get to the same standoff point. The first time vocalist Nasri Atweh pops the familiar question Dad says "Tough luck, my friend, but the answer is 'No'." This prompts the chorus question shown above. You could react in one of two ways. Either the question is dressed up in reggae finery to cover up the fact that in living rooms, basements, kitchens, possibly even bathrooms across the world this self same question is being asked and therefore the uniqueness has been stripped clean away or MAGIC! has found a way to take crushing parental rejection after rejection and ease the sting as it were. Nasri's not going to slink away, tail between his legs. Second turn at bat and Dad says "Tough luck, my friend, 'cause the answer's still, 'No'." It wouldn't hurt to inject polite applause for Alex Tanas, the drummer who really lets those Jamaican sensations fly recklessly in the breeze. Mark Pellizzer works his guitar like hands kneading taut muscles in a massage parlor. Meanwhile bassist Ben Spivak sets his dial to slow cooker and the outcome brings an expected queue to the spicy aromas. "Rude" is misleading as titles go because the implication is it's only Dad who's being rude for not letting the waters of true love run their delightful course. Not so folks. Nasri not only asks Dad three times, he essentially lashes back with "Fuck you, I'm going to marry her anyway." The F-bomb never dropped but that was his attitude coming away from the conference. Nasri assumes his role as the latest in a line of defiant casanovas who will stop at nothing to win the affections of the fair damsel. At first you'd suspect "Rude" has the makings of graduating straight to one-hit wonder status or the latest "Now That's What I Call Music!" compilation. Check back with us in six months and we'll see if this effort has enough staying power earwig wise to promote lasting career success. It's refreshing to see MAGIC! acting silly. Shows us the old man's getting tweaked gently rather than having his hat handed to him. You could rant that Bob Marley and Peter Tosh would be rolling over in their graves if they got phantasm wind of how MAGIC! is dumming down the genre they took great pains (literally) to staple to the musical map. Two different horses with two different stripes to match. I tend to long for Maxi Priest if I want caffeine free reggae in a sparkling pop glass but MAGIC! can take a bow for having stylized an everyday question so any of us jaded onlookers aren't rolling our eyes and muttering to ourselves, "Right, like this love connection's ever going to last! Maybe next time MAGIC! will revolutionize the fast food worker's query, "Do you want fries with that?" MAGIC! doesn't punch a rude awakening into the pop landscape but with "Rude" it does snatch up a little real estate time in the cultural sun.