Track of the Moment: Better Days by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

     And so returns the neo-hippie band with another great song, “Better Days”. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros is an eleven piece band with such a retro, yet authentic sound (Take that Arcade Fire!). The enormous group made a splash with their first album, Up From Below, which contained the vivacious light hearted tune, “Home”. 

     At first glance, they seem to be your typical California hippie band with free loving messages and rainbow-painted rock songs. Well, you are right about that part, but Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros has such an outstanding sound that it would be hard to categorize them under all these cliches. To better understand their music, listen to their second album, Here. The reason I say this is because their first album consists only of demos that were written before the band shaped into its solid form. I consider Here to be their first real album, because it has much continuity within it. Here has nine tracks that sound celebratory at times, but they also have a sentimental touch, where songs like “Man On Fire” and “I Don’t Want To Pray” show a motive to leave behind what brings people the most pain, mainly the most controversial issues such as religion and life after death. Call it “hippie” if you must, but Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros is one solid band that just wants people to dance!

     So let’s talk about this track, “Better Days”, off of their upcoming self titled album. To be honest there's not much to talk about, because it is typical Edward Sharpe, with a large vibrant chorus and great instrumentation contained in a unique recording style. The music is inviting and easy to jump into at any time. It reminds me most of their song, “Home”, for all of these examples mentioned, but mostly for the energy that is produced throughout both songs contained in an array of voices. It is a good song, but probably not one of my favorites. I prefer listening to a good mellow tune like “Mayla”. I am, however, looking forward to the new album that releases on July 23rd, because Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros have yet to disappoint me. I definitely would recommend checking it out when it drops.