Magnet School

Tonight We Drink … Tomorrow We Battle the Evil at Hand (Arclight)

Last year’s debut Magnet School EP, Crush, had punch and power, maneuvering through melody, riff, and echo like only veteran rockers could. Tonight We Drink takes that EP (in its entirety) and adds a dose of At the Drive-In sensibility, Foo Fighters addiction, and slick, arena-rock production. The local fourpiece electrifies a sound that switches on the fog machine, releasing the bass-heavy drive of opener “XX.” Without a hi-hat in earshot and relying heavily on song structure, newbies “Seventensplit,” “Colettalicious,” and “The Ghost of Duane” are timeless, borrowing tricks from early-Nineties stalwarts (not unlike Magnet School’s cover of Swervedriver’s “Never Lose That Feeling”) and adding their own verve. It might be a little too clean, a little too glossy for a Red River powerhouse, but if that’s the biggest issue Magnet School faces, then funding won’t be a problem at all.

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This article appears in November 23 • 2007.

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