Totally Knuts’ “Pan Magic” EP isn’t the band’s first official release (stay tuned for our review of their full-length album, “Fresh, Spooky, & Queer”) but it is an excellent preview of what the band has to offer. Let’s get started!

The EP opens with a delightful anthem for Luna: “Being Me.” This song emphasizes Luna’s security in herself, and the knowledge that her true friends embrace her best qualities when the rest of Hogwarts might not. TK’s harmonies on this track are so good, and the ukulele is perfect for Luna’s character.

“Ashanti’s Apocryphal Apothecary” is up next, about a shop in Knockturn Alley that isn’t quite … shall we say, reputable? (Side note: I had to google what “apocryphal” meant, so big kudos to TK for not only using it in a song, but for putting it in the CHORUS and pronouncing it correctly every single time.) I’m not certain that we ever learn about the canonical apothecary owner, but I willingly believe that it’s owned and operated by a woman named Ashanti.  “There’s a witch behind the counter, she’ll stare into your soul. She knows what you are looking for. Drop some Sickles in her bowl.”

Next we go into “Cupid’s Ice Cream Shop,” a cloyingly sweet tune about love and all the forms it can take. Cupid visits the ice cream shop each day, looking for single people to help fall in love: boys, girls, non-binary, and he makes sure to accommodate different sexualities; Cupid doesn’t push people who are aro or ace! Cupid also never gives up on love, and the ice cream shop employees give him a discount every day for his tenacity.

“Another Stupid Love Song” takes a somber turn, in which Remus and Sirius are separated by circumstances and war and how, despite all that, their story isn’t over yet. You would expect the harmonies in this song to reinforce the feeling of melancholy, but instead they are surprisingly uplifting, especially on the last few lines of the chorus: “And with everything we’ve been through/And the things that are still to come/I have a feeling that our story isn’t done.”

TK closes out the EP with “Seamus and Dean,” a delightful waltz about the Yule Ball. This song gives permission for friends to maybe be more than friends, for the sheer fact of the Triwizard Tournament being such a rare occurrence, and the music at the Yule Ball acting as a cover for some feelings you might not be even be sure of yourself. “Years in the future you’ll wonder what the dancers who were there had said,” and “have you seen Seamus and Dean, dancing at the Yule Ball tonight?”

As previously mentioned, this EP is not the band’s first wizard rock album, but it is a fantastic entry point if you’re looking for some more variety in your wizard rock collection. Totally Knuts offers a voice that is unique yet familiar, with lyrics and phrasing that might surprise you beyond that chill ukulele sound.

Find more from Totally Knuts at their Bandcamp page or on Facebook!