Mahgeetah

Let’s start by saying Mahgeetah’s first full-length album Heavy Baby doesn’t qualify as your typical SF indie scene staple.

Beginning with a single interval on a B3 organ—or a B3 imposture—and ending with a classic blues-rock jam, the album is truck stop music’s sensitive cousin who went off to college, but still gets nostalgic for his blues and folk rock roots. It would gladly trade your Bay Area reverb for a little distortion any day.

Heavy Baby draws on influences like Dr. Dog and Wilco as a compass, but ventures into territory of its own. It is constructed of propulsive rhythms with easy riding guitars, and furnished with Cat Stevens-like electric piano riffs with soulful, staccato vocals that call to mind Arcade Fire’s Win Butler and Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug.

Listen to the album all the way through; this is much more than a catchy road trip playlist.

Here's the only track from the album I could find for free download, but you can stream it on major streaming platforms like Rdio, and buy it on major buying platforms like iTunes.

Get convinced you want to buy or stream Mahgeetah's album by going to see them perform at The Night Light, December 7, with T.V. Mike and Scarecrows. - The Deli Magazine

Part folksy blues and part reverb-rich melodies, local San Francisco group Mahgeetah manage to combine slick, distorted riffs and rich chords with a soothing, finishing touch. The band cites influences such as Dr. Dog, Wilco and My Morning Jacket, if that gives you an idea of what direction they may be headed in. - The Daily Californian

The Bay Area has been a hotbed of great music lately, and on September 18th buzz band Mahgeetah will announce their highly anticipated arrival with the release of their debut album Heavy Baby.

Self-described as ‘cohesive’ and citing bands such as The Arcade Fire, Dr. Dog, Dawes, Delta Spirit, and Wilco as inspirations, Mahgeetah’s sound is a combination of soulful indie/blues rock and new-school indie flair. Appropriately, they’ve shared bills with fellow bluesy San Franciscans The Stone Foxes and current indie darlings The Lumineers in the not-too-distant past.

Heavy Baby features 9 songs of distorted riffs set to lush piano melodies, layered instrumentation and vocals as raw and gritty as they are perfectly suited to the music and lyrics they accompany.

There are slow, drawn-out blues numbers (Creature of Habit), uptempo, percussion-laden romps (Someday (I Swear)), introspective, keyboard-driven jams (Proud Blood), and songs that slowly build to explosive, resonant final few minutes (War Dreams). Check out their single Hundreds here via this private link! Adjectives aside, Heavy Baby has all the makings of a breakout album, so pay attention.

Here’s the video for their song Long Shot, which isn’t on Heavy Baby but was released last year garnering massive attention in the music world: - Minx Society

The Bay Area has been a hotbed of great music lately, and on September 18th buzz band Mahgeetah will announce their highly anticipated arrival with the release of their debut album Heavy Baby.

Self-described as ‘cohesive’ and citing bands such as The Arcade Fire, Dr. Dog, Dawes, Delta Spirit, and Wilco as inspirations, Mahgeetah’s sound is a combination of soulful indie/blues rock and new-school indie flair. Appropriately, they’ve shared bills with fellow bluesy San Franciscans The Stone Foxes and current indie darlings The Lumineers in the not-too-distant past.

Heavy Baby features 9 songs of distorted riffs set to lush piano melodies, layered instrumentation and vocals as raw and gritty as they are perfectly suited to the music and lyrics they accompany.

There are slow, drawn-out blues numbers (Creature of Habit), uptempo, percussion-laden romps (Someday (I Swear)), introspective, keyboard-driven jams (Proud Blood), and songs that slowly build to explosive, resonant final few minutes (War Dreams). Check out their single Hundreds here via this private link! Adjectives aside, Heavy Baby has all the makings of a breakout album, so pay attention.

Here’s the video for their song Long Shot, which isn’t on Heavy Baby but was released last year garnering massive attention in the music world: - Minx Society

"Usually I order up hip-hop or dance, but bands like Mahgeetah sure do get me off that menu and back into indie rock. Shades of Dr. Dog, My Morning Jacket and Wilco are all present in “Wheels,” a bluesy, ‘70s kind of strum-a-long with twangy gee-tars, throwback keyboards and melodic howls. Easy rider music for sure, all on Heavy Baby now" - WWW.RCRDLBL.COM
- WWW.RCRDLBL.COM

If there is a word to describe Mahgeetah it would be "cohesive." For a band whose formidable years were spent performing cover songs in a garage, both their songwriting and performances feature an astounding amount of maturity and originality. This is not to say that they do not wear their influences on their sleeve, nor do they shy away from acknowledging those they admire most. What they are doing is continuing a legacy that great artists have always presented to the masses, and that is to blend a modern interpretation with what has come before. In other words, move music forward. Within a group setting, the rewards are even more profound because the individual personalities become intermingled and contrasted so readily that the lines between uniform and chaos get blurred; and the result is usually a refreshing new style of music and form.

Mahgeetah's debut album, Heavy Baby, combines the richness of early blues and American roots with not only the large rock sound from the 1960s and 70s, but the integrity of a modern day indie act. It is a promising effort from a group of guys at the early stages of their career, and who appear to have the wherewithal to understand the type of dedication needed to become successful. Through their impassioned live shows and their keen insight to produce an amazing sound, Mahgeetah is poised to be one of the great acts to come out of San Francisco. On the heels of releasing Heavy Baby, I was fortunate enough to talk with members Ryan Fisher and J.J. Mellon and discuss their humble beginnings, the new album, and the San Francisco scene. [Interviewed on Nov. 10, 2011] - Dig In Magazine