Wizard rock has always had a world wide reach, with bands reporting in from all over the globe. Australia’s certainly no exception to that, and has delivered another great wrock band in Muggle Born. And let me tell you this – they certainly bring the ROCK to wizard rock!

Although their first EP “Potions Class“ just dropped a few months ago (July 8 2016, to be exact) the ideas and songs first started percolating with main instrumentalist Sebastian back in 2015. Seb was playing Quidditch for his university’s team, and thought that forming a wizard rock band would be a fun way to expand his love of Harry Potter. Soon after meeting vocalist Red at a friend’s party, he knew it was time to wrock.

The two spent a few months tracking instruments on their own before moving to a professional studio to get Red’s vocals recorded just right. According to Sebastian, when it came to the overall album performance, “everything was tracked, mixed and mastered ourselves. We did this because we wanted a “raw” sound to help portray the emotions behind our songs.”

That approach certainly worked with the six songs featured on the “Potions Class” EP. Let’s take a look and listen together, shall we?

The EP opens up with “Forbidden (Like the Forest)”, a song about a Gryffindor who likes a Slytherin Quidditch player. At first the singer firmly declares that she is “not sleeping with the enemy tonight”. However, she tries to find ways to get around the house differences as she discovers that they have a lot more in common than they think. Musically, this uptempo rock song is very reminiscent of early Tonks and the Aurors, and is a perfect introduction to the EP and the band.

 

On “Heartbroken Hufflepuff”, the upbeat rock feel continues with another “missing out on love” song. Lyrically, this one tells story of a ‘puff who misses an old relationship they wish they were still in. The singer keeps looking at Harry and Ginny’s relationship, and wishes they still had the same.

The volume drops down a bit for the next song, an acoustic number called “I Can’t Save You”. Relationship lyrics continue to dominate the EP, as the song takes the point of view of someone who feels let down by their partner. Musically, the chorus features a great chord progression and some really nice harmony vocals between Red and Seb.

“I Swear This Song Isn’t About Girls (Homesick)” brings a darker feel than the other songs, and lyrically at first seems like it could possibly be from Draco’s point of view in Half Blood Prince. Sebastian let us know that the song is actually about group dynamics and drama, which ran rampant throughout Hogwarts (and most likely all of our schools as well). Musically, the song feels a bit sparse; I personally wanted to hear more voices in the chorus, which would have helped to thicken things up.

The acoustic guitar comes back out for “1994”, which is about the Death Eater incident at the Quidditch World Cup in Goblet of Fire. There’s a weird effect on the vocals at end of chorus but it works, giving the song a slightly otherworldly feel.

“Muggleborn (The Grass Ain’t Always Greener)” closes out the EP, and is about a Hogwarts student who leaves their muggle life behind to go to Hogwarts… but isn’t entirely thrilled. Our singer misses their old friends and old life, but eventually learns to love their new life as well. Things in life often change, and although things are different, that doesn’t mean that they’re negative or bad.

“Potions Class” is an absolutely solid debut for Muggle Born – it brings the rock, it brings the quiet, and it brings the feels. You can’t ask for more from 6 songs that you can get for free from their Bandcamp page (although we always encourage fans to consider helping compensate wizard rock artists, by either purchasing their downloads or sharing their links online to help the band find new fans).

According to Sebastian, he and Red are both currently working on other musical projects, but they’re always talking about what their next wizard rock release might be. Until then, you can keep track of Muggle Born through their Bandcamp, Facebook, and YouTube sites.

Did you download or purchase the new Muggle Born EP? If so, let us know your thoughts on the songs in the comments section below!