Here We Go Magic

Recently, rolling across eastern Ohio in their trusty tour van, the members of Brooklyn-based psych-pop/folk band Here We Go Magic picked up some unexpected cargo: John Waters, the famously peculiar writer-director (Hairspray, Pink Flamingos) and, evidently, an avid hitchhiker. Huh?

Tweeted the band of the truly strange story that made the web rounds in a ferocious hurry: "A bit of an odd day today... But not all that much more odd than many days, really."

That’s probably true when you’ve spent the kind of time on the road HWGM has since its formation in 2008. In a way, the weird Waters tale is no more bizarre than the time the band played a sparsely populated set at 2010’s Glastonbury Festival, only to find that among the scattered crowd on the near hillside stood Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and his esteemed producer Nigel Godrich—both of whom now list Here We Go Magic as a current favorite. Seems the band has a knack for running itself right into one hell of a story.

Maybe it’s experiences like these, or the impressive list of bands with which HWGM has toured thus far (Grizzly Bear, White Rabbits, The Walkmen, Broken Social Scene), or the simple fact that it's the fourth time around, but the band’s latest album, A Different Ship (produced, in fact, by Nigel Godrich), is a clear progression both sonically and substantively. As HWGM's most cohesive and comprehensive release to date, A Different Ship has the potential to keep the band in the spotlight for a while to come.

The group is currently touring with lauded songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird. If it's even possible, maybe it'll top those recent head-scratching memories with a few more.