The Abracadabras
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The Abracadabras

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"The Abracadabras/Redwalls Review"

At their best, Kansas City's five-piece the Abracadabras (above) are a deliriously catchy pop band. They play swaggering rock in the vein of the Faces; Colin Rausch's melodic McCartney-flavored bass adds a Beatles tinge to the mix.

Their opening set lasted about 45 minutes. That said, their cover of T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" couldn't have been better. If they can come up with more songs as delightful as "Petty Politics" and "Be Still Be Cool" the Abracadabras might surpass the Redwall's trajectory. - The Kansas City Star


"Present Magazine Review: The Abracadabras"

The Abracadabras have steadily released a few songs from their self-released album Be Still, Be Cool online via their MySpace page over the past two months. The entire album is available now as an online release that can be downloaded by following a few steps outlined on the band’s web site (see their blog entry for details). Here’s a taste of what to expect from this five-man band. The title track “Be Still, Be Cool” jumps through the front door and looks around the room, full of bad attitude, machine gun drumming, high energy guitars fueled by Red Bull, and a nasally lead vocal that grows on you as the song unfolds.
Abracadabras - Be Still, Be Cool
“C’mon and Get It” crowds a catchy beat, gang vocals, yips, yowls, and driving guitars into an elevator, punches buttons straight to the top floor, commandeers the rooftop, and unleashes this howler across the cityscape. Who isn’t ready to get some rock-n-roll tonic in them and forget politics, a tanking economy, and worries about how we’re gonna get out of this mess? Fill up the tank on some cheap gas while it lasts, punch up this song on the iPod patched through the stereo, and get rolling to meet up with pals for drinks and discussion about a New New Deal in 2009.

The Abracadabras are a kick-ass cadre of musicians––John Nixon on lead vocals and keys, Collin Rausch muscling sweet hooks on electric bass and chiming in vocals, Kyle Anthony deftly manning drums with additional vocals, Bobby Topaz on guitar/vocals, and Travis McKenzie blazing away on lead guitar. The band is hardly a one-trick pony. “Are We Going Down?” is a pop-laced gem clocking in at less than two minutes that gathers strength from its Beatles’ influence––peppy beat, ooh-ahh vocals, a simple, effective chorus, and a soaring guitar riff in just the right places.

The guys veer into a gentler tune, “Give Me Your Name,” perfect for that moment when you look across a crowded room, make eye contact with that one person who has been deliciously elusive all night, part the crowd, lean into each other, hold hands, and start that slow dance in place while the rest of the world spins around you.

“Black and White” emits an Oasis-does-the-Beatles number, slightly psychedelic with daring guitar that pulls the ripcord after ascending to majestic heights, tripped out vocals, keys that add grand drama, and bombastic drumming that adds up to an expansive sound fit for an arena.

Stripping away any sense of pretension, they return on track seven with the chummy “Get Us Out of This Place” that should be a mandatory closer for pubs at last call. Nixon and company make the case that it’ll all be okay if they can get there from here, moving onward motivated by the power of gang vocals, a jaunty bass line, jubilant keys, perky beat, hand claps, and the impulse to chase the horizon.
“Show Me The Sunrise, Callie Anne” gets gritty and heartfelt, breaking into an aching crooner replete with raspy, world-weary vocals, strummy guitar, and a touch of harmonica. It’s a bit off-kilter with the rest of the record, steeped in the vagabond spirit of Rod Stewart circa The Faces. Just when you wonder whether The Abracadabras will get even more down-home, they serve up blistering guitar and earnest vocals on “Open Your Eyes.” The song shifts gears with a snappy beat and groovy guitar hook that’s irresistible.

“Democratic Majik Blues” summons that Oasis-channels-Beatles vibe again with cocksure vocals delivering ballsy pronouncements and guitars that snarl “to hell with the establishment, piss off to the man in charge.” Then, “Deep” bats away any quick assumptions that a listener might make about The Abracadabs. This reflective tune offers the most harmony of any track, delving into the territory of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young with golden vocals.

All in all, The Abracadabras produce a dozen songs on Be Still, Be Cool that refuse to be easily defined as a whole. It’s refreshing to hear a record full of variety that holds together because it is adventurous without becoming schizophrenic. The Abracadabras' songs are defiant, sassy, vibrant, and audacious; the band is wholly unafraid to reference styles from yesteryear but fully intent on capturing a voice that convinces listeners to take notice and marvel at the magic they have conjured. - Present Magazine


"Ink Album Review: The Abracadabras"

Just like Elvis before them and the Clash after, those shaggy-haired U.K. rockers with the matching outfits (you know the ones) turned music on its ear forever. So many bands have been influenced by them it would be impossible to count the number of groups that owe at least a small debt of gratitude to the changes they made to the music world.

You can’t blame Kansas City’s the abracadabras" href="http://www.myspace.com/abracadabras" target="_blank">the abracadabras or any musicians who thieve a little from our buddies across the pond. C’mon. Who could resist the sweet charms of “Saturday Night,” or “I Only Want to be With You”? Oh yeah, when it came to gooey pop music served with a smile, nobody did it better than the Bay City Rollers.
OK, so we’re referencing the Bay City Rollers, a group that’s been dismissed as pure 1970s teen-idol fluff, and not the Beatles. To be fair, the Rollers were strict fundamental Beatles-ists, serving up great chops in the finest tradition of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. But as we all know, not everyone can be the Beatles. Hell, sometimes not even the Beatles could live up to being the Beatles. And when you’re rockin’ out guitars and pianos with multiple harmonies as the abracadabras do on their debut LP, Be Still, Be Cool, you’re doing fine if you’re in solid Bay City territory.
Be Still, Be Cool shows the abracadabras digging greedily into the Fab Four’s vast catalogue and dishing it up with a dirty-garage icing. the group pairs riff-rockers with “Hey Jude”-style piano ballads and the occasional long-winded experiments in psychedelia. Honestly, the band doesn’t spend too much time dropping the sugar pops on us, but when it does, as on the near-perfect gem “Are We Going Down,” one can only hope it’s the promise of great things to come.
“Are We Going Down,” truly a cut in a class all its own, isn’t the only standout track. “Get Us Out of This Place,” with its endless gang-chorus debauchery, has “unforgettable anthem” written all over it. Sleazy rocker “C’mon and Get It” makes you wanna hit the dance floor first and do other fun things later.
the rest of the album keeps your interest with varying degrees of success, but you get the feeling the band might be holding back, afraid if they let the pop monster loose, it might swallow them whole. Sure, the Bay City Rollers weren’t able to handle that pressure, but that’s a lesson for our local boys to learn. For now, we can enjoy the abracadabras, eccentricities and all, until they can reconcile their inevitable destiny. - Ink Magazine


"Hocus Focus"

The Abracadabras have had some severely swollen nuts lately.

Richard Gintowt

Me Wise Magic: Abracadabras, from left, are Collin Rausch, Travis McKenzie, Kyle Anthony, John Nixon and Wayne Hutcherson.
Details:
Abracadabras' CD-release party, with the Rich Boys, Troubadour Dali and Kasey Rausch.
Friday, October 10, at the Riot Room.

Problem is, they keep getting punched in the groin. Every time the pain subsides from one blow, another is seemingly waiting in the wings.

The departing manager, the smoke-and-mirrors record deal, the stolen trailer — punch, punch, punch ...

So when Collin Rausch awoke at 6:30 a.m. one morning to find the Abracadabras' brand-new rig missing from his driveway, he took matters into his own hands.

"I scoured the suburbs all day trying to find it," Rausch recalls. "I'd look in people's eyes as I was driving by to see if they looked guilty."

The trailer eventually turned up on the side of state Route 291 in Lee's Summit with about $500 damage in ripped locks and body scars. It looked like it had been attacked with a hatchet. But the fact that it miraculously returned was music to the Abracadabras' ears.

Now that they have a 12-song album under their belts, the five members of the Kansas City band finally have a reason to put that trailer to use.

"There's no point in even leaving the state if you don't have product," says guitarist Travis McKenzie.

Be Still, Be Cool is the conclusion to chapter one of the Abracadabras' star-crossed existence. The aforementioned character-building episodes hardly impeded an avalanche of tunes inspired by alternative rock, Britpop, '60s psychedelia, hippie folk, and swampy Southern blues. Regardless of what labels or managers get behind it (or not), Be Still, Be Cool sounds like a big-time record — not the annoying Fall Out Boy sort but rather the well-rounded Supergrass variety.

Recorded with producer Mike Crawford at his upstart studio, The Impossible Box, the album showcases a breadth of recording techniques from one-take numbers to the sort of trickery that has informed albums since Sgt. Pepper's. Each track is stacked with harmonies, guitar overdubs and vintage keyboards.

"We threw the whole kitchen sink into it," lead singer John Nixon says. "Mike added a lot of great X factors to tracks. He'd dial up perfect guitar and keyboard tones."

Nixon says the group intended to stack the front of the record with pop songs and then let it "slowly unveil itself as something else." The song "Deep" is a mellow acoustic number in the vein of CSN&Y, while "Show Me the Sunrise, Callie Anne" summons the campfire country-rock of the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers. Such detours complement infectious two-minute singles like "C'mon and Get It!" and "An Argument."

"We're enthusiasts of the art of order and timing," Rausch says. "One of my favorite things to do is take classic rock records and rearrange them to see if I can make them better."

This Friday's album-release party at the Riot Room should offer a sense of vindication after a long summer. The frustrating events unfolded in July, when a prospective label fell out of the loop and manager Harley Sears also exited the picture.

Sears, who also worked with KC bands Lovers in Transit and the Rich Boys, relocated to New York City in May. He says the decision to part ways with the Abracadabras was "amicable and necessary" due to other commitments.

"I enjoyed the time we spent together," Sears says. "Their new album was a labor of love, and the end result was a true work of art."

However amicable the split was, the Abracadabras couldn't help but feel a bit bummed.

"We went from almost being signed and having a manager and possibly moving to nothing," Rausch says. "No matter how hard you try to stay grounded, you get your hopes up."

Adds guitarist Bobby Topaz (real name: Wayne Hutcherson): "It was like the rug was pulled out from under us. There was a week where we all sitting around scratching our heads like, 'What's next?'"

The events motivated the group to self-release Be Still, Be Cool. They began unveiling tracks on their MySpace page a couple of months ago, leading up to a free release of the album this week. Rather than invest in hard copies, the band is handing out cards with free download codes. They also plan to make the entire album available for download via MySpace.

"I think in the long term it'll be better to give it away," Nixon says. "The point is that we're not big, and we're not making money now anyways, so we may as well try to get people to come to shows."

Nixon is also adamant about downsizing the group's reputation for dressing up at shows, preferring to redirect the focus toward the music.

"It became more of a thing to talk about what we were wearing than what we were doing," he says. "[Making the record] was a long and frustrating journey, so we had to do things to entertain ourselves and the audience in the meantime. I think we all like making music more than putting on shiny jackets and making sure our hair is pretty. We like that, too, obviously."

Plus, without the shiny jackets, they're a lot less likely to get punched in the nuts. - The Pitch


Discography

Be Still, Be Cool (2008)
singles:
"Be Still, Be Cool"
"C'mon And Get It!"
"Are We Going Down?"
"Give Me Your Name"
"An Argument"

Our B-Sides Can Beat Up Your A-Side's Dad EP(2007)
singles:
"Petty Politics"
"The Emperor's New Clothes"

The Magic EP (2006)

Photos

Bio

The Abracadabras are five bright, young, Kansas City natives well versed in an array of different musical art backgrounds. From one song to the next the listener will find something new and fresh and yet reassuringly familiar. You would think that a young band tackling everything from New York Garage Rock, to Brit Pop, to Psychedelia, to Americana Folk would be a jarring and confusing wreck. But, you soon realize this group is wise beyond their classic rock record collection and can back up their grand ambitions.