The Album

Happy New Year!!! In honor of the new year and as a nod to ye ol’ house shows, I wanted to pay tribute to a very special band. You know ‘em, you love ‘em, it’s Draco and the Malfoys! Today I’m going to be reviewing their October 2020 release of Boggarts from the Closet. With eleven tracks total, two of them live recordings (one of which from Lumos 2006), it’s going to be a wild ride. Buckle up and let’s go!

The Tracks

I’ve Got a Weakness kicks things off with an epic beat on percussion and electric strings. Then we hear a solo voice that’s quickly backed by harmonies. It is a shorter song at one and a half minutes, but it really captures the essence of what Draco and the Malfoys is all about.

I am in love with the guitar part in First Year Haircut. Do you remember a time when you were embarrassed by a haircut you used to have? Draco reminisces on the one he had during his first year at Hogwarts. This song is complete with scat singing and a sick guitar solo.

Get ready to rock hard with Goyle’s Pants. What, too weird of a sentence? Well, that’s nothing compared to how weird it must have felt to Draco when he got transfigured into a ferret and found his way into Goyle’s pants. This song goes hard, and it really is what wizard rock is all about.

Next up is a little bit of a different sound with Hey Neville. We have piano, synthetic strings, computerized brass, and a robotic voice as the singer. In this song, Draco sings about how much he loves not being in Neville’s shoes. This is an absolutely funky little ditty.

The first live song of the album is I Don’t Care (Live). The lyrics are quick to make the audience laugh, and it even includes audience participation with a rousing chorus of “I DON’T CARE!” It is an incredibly Slytherin song.

Grindylows’s Garden is an amazing parody of Octopus’s Garden by The Beatles. Everything from the instrumentals to the vocals and harmonies are simply sublime. I love the piano mixing with the banjo, and how the song really makes me feel like I’m underwater chilling with the creatures in the Hogwarts lake.

If you want a spooky vibe, Hippogryph’s Picnic is for you. It absolutely sounds like skipping through the Forbidden Forest. I am taken back to Halloween as a kid listening to this song. This is my favorite wizard rock march. (Follow-up: are there even any wizard rock marches other than this one?)

It’s Magic is another wonderful parody – this time of the song Magic by Pilot. The instrumentals fill out the track and are only beautifully accentuated by the main vocals and harmonies. 

Ready for the Knockturn Alley Blues? It has a lovely old-timey blues sound, which is of course exactly what they were going for. We’ve got folk instruments, including banjo, drums, bass, and ukulele, and a whole choir of voices backing up the chorus. The sudden drop in tempo near the end is incredible.

Spinners Cast ID is a super short clip of Brian recording for Spinners Cast!

The final song on this album is I’ve Got a Weakness (Live at Lumos ‘06). The energy is so palpable not only from the band itself but also the audience. When Draco and the Malfoys play a show, they Play A Show. Nothing is held back, in true Death Eater fashion. It is an explosive end to a great album.

In Summary

I love this album because there are so many opportunities for Draco and the Malfoys to show off their versatility with different musical styles, instrumentation, and topics. Everything from the lyrics to the backing vocals to the energy comes together for each individual track to make the best piece they can. I adore and appreciate the energy and passion that they put into all of their music.