The Magnets: evidently in good voice
Immensely likable and supremely slick, The Magnets apparently started off as buskers in Edinburgh way back in the day, the a capella group working their way up at the Fringe over the past five years, so this run of shows at the sizeable Udderbelly venue seem just reward for their efforts.
Though they are talented singers, the key lies in their demanding, precise arrangements, which takes numbers such as David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and Blur’s Parklife and richly renders them in a perky, doo-wop inspired fashion, the six-piece’s vocals all working away to provide a lush sound that far exceeds expectations of what can be achieved without any additional instruments or sound effects.
In fact, relying on their dextrous vocals affords them a scarcely believable element of control that they wittily utilise during one routine. All six members engaging in a bit of silly scat singing, the beatboxer of the group then acts as the operator of an invisible mixing desk, turning up and down the volume of each member’s contribution, isolating their sound, sending them off one by one and then somehow scratching between all the different parts by himself. It probably has to be heard to be believed…
Nifty and nimble, the band are such harmlessly good fun that you want to reduce them to miniature size - using that ray gun device Rick Moranis had in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - and carry them around in your own pocket, The Magnets literally on hand and ready to perform a cheery rendition of one of your favourite hits whenever you start to feel a bit down.
For the group are expert at reinterpreting other’s efforts: Lady GaGa’s Poker Face takes on a slinky tone as it’s slowed for a sultry rendition, Blondie’s Call Me sees the band prowling about the stage like tigers before they all start on trying to seduce the same attractive audience member. (As it turns out, all six focussing their efforts on the one individual isn’t the brightest idea to achieve success...)
Indulging in some good old-fashioned crowd interaction - they do seem to lap up the attention expertly - the group start on a musical A to Z of the movies, performing themes from various film classics as the audience hollers their guesses. Some are good, some are bad, many are several minutes late, but it all adds to the experience.
Anyway, The Magnets are the sort of enormously entertaining act that once would have found a regular place on Saturday evening prime-time television, though are far more talented than Noel Edmonds and his Crinkly Bottom ever was. A recent appearance on STV’s Magic Numbers - plug plug, not that I’ve actually seen the show - is just about appropriate for what they do, and though they’re unlikely to ever be pushing at the boundaries of edgy entertainment, an enhanced place in the mainstream would do both them and us the world of good.
The Magnets perform at 5.25pm at E4 Udderbelly until August 30.
