Have You Heard These Bands?

I know this is a little out of the areas in which I usually write, but I thought it would be a fun interlude between regular columns. I am in communication with a ton of international Wizard Rockers, but that story is taking longer than I planned, so I hope you enjoy my time just having fun writing for you!

I am spending the semester studying abroad in Scotland at present and have felt a strong desire to hold onto at least a few familiar things. Naturally, one of these things is Wizard Rock. I can’t help it if it’s a major part of my life. After a conversation with my friend Maria (Swedish Wrocker Ginger and Moon), I realized that I have a lot of different Wrock bands in my iTunes, a number of whom she had never heard of. The same happened when I spent time with my friend Lauren, the quintessential Wrock fangirl of the UK. So I figured, “What better option when I have internet issues than to share some of my favorite, lesser known Wrock bands with my readers!”

So here it goes! I know some of you will already be aware of some of these bands, but the chance to introduce them to others is worth it!

The Mighty Patronus
A band with the solid feel of people just having a great time, The Mighty Patronus makes my list because of the fun, catchy lyrics in coordination with their music just being plain good! I can’t claim that their recordings are perfect, but as some of you are sure to have noticed, that has little to do with Wizard Rock being awesome. In fact, I would argue that it adds much of the appeal to the music. The knowledge that they can accomplish so much with their pure talent is amazing. I would love to see The Mighty Patronus play live someday, should it ever be possible for me!

Among their songs are “The Dementors Disappear,” “Mother by Another Brother,” and “The Triwizard Maze.” In “The Dementors Disappear,” their band name comes into play very entertainingly and in a way that it always gets stuck in my head for hours afterwards. Additionally, “Mother by Another Brother” reflects the desire to truly be a part of the Weasley clan and is yet another example of a far too catchy tune! If you haven’t heard The Mighty Patronus before now, I highly recommend it! Leave them a comment and let them know what you think of their music!

The Bandon Banshees
I have to admit, The Bandon Banshees were one of the first Wizard Rock bands I ever saw live, so I may be a bit biased. Even so, this group has captured my heart. They wrock out with all they have, just enjoying themselves and helping the audience do the same. They have one album out, “Wizard Rock Cake” and are working on their second full length album right now.

In addition to working on their own music, The Bandon Banshees have dedicated their time to putting together Wrock compilations (one for Christmas, one for Summer) to raise money for charity. With lyrics that just get me laughing and beats that have me tapping my foot as I ride the bus with my headphones in, The Bandon Banshees are absolutely worth their salt.

You may recognize their song “If I Had a Dollar” from the Wizard Rockumentary. Others to look into are “Magical Me,” “Wizard Rock Cake,” and “This Song is a Horcrux.” Though I’m not promising you can find all their music without ordering their album!

Bella and the Death Eaters
Based out of the UK, Bella and the Death Eaters have kept me laughing and crying alternatively since I discovered them (or, should I say, “her”). Emuh first caught my attention a couple years ago when she put up the song “Become a Death Eater” on her band MySpace page. This song cracks me up to this day, even. She sings to the listener, encouraging them to become Death Eaters, expanding on all the perks of joining with Voldy. “You get great health care, including dental. You get a free bumper sticker for your broomstick. You get to travel, it’s so continental!” When I was working with a summer camp for their Harry Potter week, I made a Wrock compilation that included this song. I had 10 year olds singing it as they walked back to their waiting parents. Absolutely classic!

Like I said, though, not everything is as humorous as “Become a Death Eater.” In fact, the song “Dear Moony” gets me downright teary. This is part of why I love her so much. The diversity she exhibits is amazing to me. It seems impossible to me that someone can have such ability (mostly because the closest thing I can do to joining the Wrock community as anything other than a Fan Girl is to write a column about it!).

Sadly, Emuh has been taking a break from Wizard Rock for a while due to a busy life. Despite that, I think we should encourage her in her Wizard Rock efforts because they are so absolutely wonderful! Even just leaving a comment for her describing your reaction to her music would be great!

Shrieking Shack Disco Gang
Oh my gosh… what to say about the Shrieking Shack Disco Gang? I can’t remember exactly when it was that I first discovered them, but their more hardcore, yet still upbeat approach to Wizard Rock was a relief to my ears! Don’t get me wrong, I still love the regular upbeat, more poppy Wrock (like The Remus Lupins), and I still love the more typical hardcore Wrock (both Voldemort or Thestral come to mind), but to find a band with such a balance of both was amazing to me.

The song that did me in was their own personal “Expecto Patronum.” I know, I know; a ton of Wrockers have songs by this name, but this one stood out among them. The memory of this upbeat, exciting, fun song would be enough for me to produce an incredibly strong Patronus of my own. But not all of their music is about producing Patronuses? Patroni? Either way… the Shrieking Shack Disco Gang goes beyond the typical and wrote songs such as “CAPS LOCK HARRY” and “Percy is a Loser” to really make them even more amazing and entertaining than ever before.

For all of their music, look into getting a copy of their album, Accio Pop, if at all possible. It makes me dance every time (even if I’m just listening to it while laying in bed)! Granted, sometimes it’s more of a mental dance, but that’s close enough, right?

Edgar & the Family Bones
I wish I could say I have a long history of listening to Edgar & the Family Bones, but they were only recently introduced properly to me. To be honest, it was no more than a couple weeks ago, now. I only have two of their songs to really listen to, but it truly takes my breath away. With strong instrumental back up, the lyrics are made all the more powerful.

The song “The Last Days of Bones” is haunting in its beauty while the lyrics are strong, facing the possible end of the Bones’, but still standing strong despite all. Listening to it gives me chills, actually. Not the same kind of chills one gets from listening to Oliver Boyd’s “End of an Era,” but more like the raw emotion experienced when listening to Harry and the Potters’ dedication to “Dumbledore.”

Edgar & the Family Bones clearly has talent and I will be the first to admit that I can’t wait to hear more from them!

LetriX
Sadly, I have noticed that Wrockers who are purely instrumental have a tendency to get overlooked from time to time. When I first listened to LetriX, however, I was enthralled by her clear understanding of something so interesting and intense as the “Lestrange Madness” or the peculiar way a “Love Potion” will take effect on an unsuspecting victim.

“Love Potion” captures my imagination with its initial intensity as the potion is brewed and the plan hatched. From there it moves to the stage where the potion itself is consumed by the victim (I always picture Tom Riddle, Sr.). Then there is the aloofness in someone under the effect of a love potion. Eventually, it begins to wear off and you begin to wonder if this is where Merope began to delude herself into believing that Tom really loved her, potion or no.

LetriX’s “All is Well Cantabile” also holds my attention strongly. When listening to this song, it becomes clear that the lightness and joy in the music is fresh, new – come after long suffering. I am constantly impressed when I listen to this music, so perfectly catching the emotion it hopes to describe.

The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office
The first (and for a long time only) song from The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office quickly became one of my favorite Wizard Rock songs ever. In the genre I would potentially call electronica, this band seemed to come out of nowhere, but never once did I stop hoping for more music from them. “Lily’s Green Eyes” is written as a reminder to Harry of the sacrifice his parents made for him and how, because of it, he will “never have to fight alone.” It is a powerful song that has kept me enthralled over and over.

After a long wait, we finally got more out of The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office when Alex (one of the members) took The Weasel King up on the offer to remix some of his music. The remixed version of “Red Hair” took my breath away. I, as a huge fan of The Weasel King, did not think it possible to love the song any more than I already did, but Alex was up to the challenge and made it something even more powerful than I could have imagined.

Now, The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office has some other music written and recorded, but it is not available for download. So once you listen to some of their music for yourself, perhaps you’ll join me in my pleas for them to make more of their music available for the rest of us to enjoy at all times! Preferably in the form of an album, but especially for when we are unable to log onto MySpace to listen to what’s up there.

Weezard
Weezard was among the first wave of bands I discovered once I realized just how many Wrock bands there were three or four years ago. At the time, there were just two songs, “Platform 9 3 Quarters” and “Gilderoy is a Fraud.” Both are amazing! True to the inspiration for the name, Weezard has a distinctive vibe similar to that of the popular Muggle band, Weezer. The name was what first drew me to Weezard (other than that it was obviously a part of this mysterious musical movement called Wizard Rock) because I had long been a fan of Weezer and had a long list of happy memories involving the band.

Weezard quickly filled me with happy memories and thoughts as well! My first ever Wizard Rock compilation (built for the sheer purpose of listening to it myself and sharing Wrock with my friends) featured “Gilderoy is a Fraud,” proudly proclaiming its use of cowbell and bouncy, catchy lyrics. After years of peeking back at Weezard’s MySpace page, a new song finally surfaced and I was overjoyed to add another song to my growing Wizard Rock archive. Since then, Weezard has put up his Blue EP for download at $5 including the songs listed above in addition to a few more.

Now, I have to mention that I have had to severely limit myself in the bands I chose to write about today. In no way does this list mean that there aren’t other amazing bands that I wish I could tell you about that fit in the category of “lesser known but still phenomenal.” So maybe I will have the chance to write about some more of those bands in the future!

Remember to keep me updated on anything going on in the Wizard Rock community that you’d like me to write about! Coming up in the next month, you can look forward to some coverage of Sue and the Hufflepuffs and some more into the international Wizard Rock scene.

‘Til next time,
Dinah Saur
You can contact Dinah via email at: WrockDinahSaur@gmail.com