Although their roots may lay lie in the fertile Long Island D.I.Y. punk scene, Adult Magic's blend of alt-rock owes as much to early-'90s acts like Superchunk and Sugar as it does to their punk roots, as heard on their eponymously titled 2019 debut album.
Formed at the tail-end of 2015 by Jesse Litwa (guitar/vocals), Mike Bruno (bass), and Chris Arena (drums), the members had played with various Long Island bands that had been active in the D.I.Y. underground scene. After a handful of shows, the trio headed into the studio in early 2016 to record their debut EP with local producer Phil Douglas (Iron Chic, RVIVR, Latterman). Numerous live shows followed with support slots for the likes of Notches, Swim Team, and Slingshot Dakota, before issuing their self-titled debut EP mid-year -- it was eventually reissued a few months later in physical formats by Dead Broke and Drunken Sailor. At the beginning of 2017, Adult Magic started to demo songs for their debut album, and more shows followed, including dates with Somerset Thrower and RVIVR. With each member still fulfilling their duties with other bands, the album was slowly recorded over the year before the final mixes were finished in 2018. They continued to play live dates before signing to Dead Broke in the U.S. and Specialist Subject in the U.K. for the release of their debut album. Some two years in the making, the Mike Bardzik- (Joyce Manor, Hurry) produced Adult Magic, was issued mid-2019, preceded by the track "Achin'." ~ Rich Wilson