In order to understand where Midnight Magic is coming from, it helps to know a bit about their history. Formed in New York City in 2009, this nine piece contains alumni from H&LA and members of DFA bands. Together with a shared love of Donna Summer and George Clinton, they present an all-out buffet of disco, electro-rock, funk and soul flavoring. Having already lit up dance floors across NYC with a few 12” singles, their debut album Walking The Midnight Streets is as colorful as its cover art and the music is equally strange. Sugary sweet hooks, relentless beats, and unorthodox twists in song structure comprise the bulk of these long, sweaty tracks, while front woman Tiffany Roth puts in a stellar performance on vocals.

Title track “Walking The Midnight Streets” comes out swinging with clever looping while building into an eclectic dance fever with vocals that bear resemblance to Grace Slick. While nothing on this disc comes close to ordinary, if you're a fan of truly bizarre sounds, skip directly to “Paranoid Jungle.” Random noises, screams, tubas, and synth all collide into a very weird yet intriguing six minutes. Sure, much of this is dance-floor inspired; tracks like “Beam Me Up” are seemingly made for the disco. However, gentler ideas are fleshed out in “Diamonds,” a tune that leads with quaint synth before working its way into a solid groove. Trumpets enter the picture on "Same Way I Feel" and "Heat," two of the strongest tracks present here that illustrate even more of the diversity of Midnight Magic.

This band is no doubt an extension of the '70s, at least for the most part; while the band's name is certainly apt for their mysterious, late night vibes, the album title couldn't be less appropriate. These infectious beats, retro throwbacks, and unconventional synth patterns could never lend themselves to merely walking. It's more likely every part of your body will involuntarily flail to these dance-floor anthems and spacey-disco revival nods.

Rating: B

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