Early 2003, in a dim lit, smoky bar in Brunswick, four suspicious muso\'s huddled in a vinyl clad booth to talk about metamorphic processes, Scottish malt and the Northwoods conspiracy. Suffice to say, like a politician in tracky dacks, the conversation awkwardly shuffled on to the topic of pop music and band riders that wouldn\'t save a dehydrated desert lizard. By golly, something had to be done ... and not a moment to soon!

Motivated by the love of simplistic and immediate \'rawk\'n\'roll\' and a healthy disrespect of reality TV mock stars, the four skipped work, crammed into a Richmond rehearsal studio and wrote furiously. By the time the hallowed lights of the MCG filtered through the cracked plaster sound-proofing, they had a swag of tunes, of which 2 ended up on the Lost Weekend and Planet of Popboomerang compilations.

"We received a barrage of requests after Living on The Moon and Everything Has Gone landed on those comps. We thought it best to heed the call, do some shows and release an album of more of the same" muses vocalist John Baxter. So together with co-conspirator Paul Inglis on bass, who\'d done time with John in Alcotomic, guitarist extraordinaire Michael Snowball (Groundswell) and the powerhouse skin thumper Geoff Barnes (P76), Magneto was born only to be mercilessly thrown out of their comfort zone into the rough and tumble world of pop like a drunk on payday at closing time.

Not afraid of wearing their influences on their sleeves, acts such as The Stems, Jellyfish, Wall of Voodoo, Gaye Bykers, Cheap Trick and Johnny Cash, has been integral to Magneto\'s warm fuzzy blend of shimmering Jazzmaster driven pop. "We keep most of our songs under 2 minutes, 37 seconds and adhere to a philosophy of, if it takes longer 20 minutes to write ... it\'s not right", smirks Paul. "We\'re catering to folk with short attention spans who\'ll be able to digest our album in under half an hour."

18 months have passed since that formative evening on Sydney Road. The much-anticipated release of their new single, \'\'Let it Go\'\', a little ditty about losing the delusion, will hit the airwaves in the coming weeks followed by a run of East coast dates. Mixed by Shane O\'Mara and Craig Lewis, "Let it Go" is lifted from debut album \'Resistance Is Futile\' featuring 11 cracking pop gems that will be released February 2006.

Tracklisting:
1) Underground
2) Shooting Star
3) Let It Go
4) Stronger Everyday
5) Living on the Moon
6) Falling
7) Heart of Mine
8) Everything Has Gone
9) Not a Day Goes By
10) Prima Donna
11) Incomplete

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There are many things to admire about Magneto's debut album, the amusingly titled "Resistance Is Futile": the jangling guitars, sun drenched harmonies and hand crafted power pop sensibility. – just about all of which can be traced back to the band's philosophy that songs should take no more than 20 minutes to write. This is, after all, still part of the pop genre, a style of music that prides itself on its ephemeral nature. To spend to much time pondering is to lurch unavoidingly toward the waning chasm of pretension and smug self importance.

While "Resistance Is Futile" is not always proof positive of the practical merit of the sub 20-minute philosophy, it does contain it's fair share of pristine power pop. Let It Go is a two minute pop gem that Dom Mariani would be proud to have even contemplated, and the opening track Underground throws back pleasantly to the days when the Hummingbirds bravely tried to brighten up the dull edges of the Australian commercial music scene. Living On The Moon has that invigorating quality that can make even the most introverted punter grab the mock guitar of their choice and start bouncing around uncontrollably and Heart Of Mine is LA post-glam rock seen through the eyes of Alex Chilton. The sparring licks of Prima Donna are every bit as exciting as the songs subject presumably thinks they are and the finale Incomplete oozes the left suburban charm of You Am I when Tim Rogers was first embraced by the mainstream.

The lingering paradox of pop music lies in it's desire to make something so light last for so long, or at least until something new comes along to replace it.
It exploits the artificially constructed human desire for fad, it's parasitic and can numb the mind of the masses. But it can be oh so good to listen to when it's done properly and "Resistance Is Futile" has plenty of good power pop to imbibe.

Patrick Emery - Beat Magazine Melbourne

Composed of members of Alcotomic, Groundswell and P76, this Melbourne group's already got a good headstart. I remember liking their contributions to recent compilations on Popboomerang and Zip, so it's good to hear more from them. As you can guess from their previous bands' work, they play catchy, power pop with as much emphasis on melody as on energy (well, more really). I've always noticed that with the power pop genre, there's a fine line between genius and pap - the style is innately radio-ready, but you just have to watch how far up the dial you go before it turns into alt-rock. Unfortunately, Magneto sometimes straddle that line a bit closely (actually, I remember the main songwriter's previous band, Alcotomic, having the same problem) . I enjoyed many of the songs on this record, like "Let It Go", "Falling", "Everything Has Gone" and the Jellyfish-ish "Shooting Star", but I also thought a handful of the songs (like "Stronger Everyday" and "Not A Day Goes By") sounded a bit too generic and polished for me. Still, much of this is an excellent start for this new band.

MTQ=8/11 www.indiepages.com

Though mostly sticking to the more than usual B-bands influenced power-pop formula, I’m pretty sure that some of these hooks from down-under will make you realise that resistance really is futile. Some of the songs might sound a bit too derivative, but then again, why would you resist an imaginary bunch of “unreleased” songs that might’ve came from the very best of the Big Star-influenced ‘Fanclub and Posies (“Underground”, “Shooting star”, “Falling”, “Everything has gone”), or Oasis, be it their Small Faces-like cockiness of “Living on the moon”, or just plain, catchy-as-hell rawkin’ of “Prima dona”.

If you’re looking for something to cheer you up before a Saturday night out, it doesn’t get much better than this, so let yourself be pulled by the power of Magneto.

Goran Obradovic / POPISM radio show

The guys in Magneto are playing pop for folks "with short attention spans who'll be able to digest our album in under half an hour" (a direct quote from the band). Hey...that's us! Actually, the band's short and sweet approach might not be so attractive...if it were not for the fact that they write absolutely killer and instantly catchy pop tunes that are OUT OF THIS WORLD. Folks who love Gigolo Aunts, Redd Kross, Big Star, The Shoes, and Teenage Fanclub (hey that's us...again) are bound to get a big mighty kick out of Resistance Is Futile. The album resounds with pure feelgood exuberance. These guys play with sincere focused excitement that is downright addictive. Hummable, totally infectious tracks include "Underground," "Stronger Everyday," "Falling," "Everything Has Gone," and "Incomplete." This will easily end up being one of the best pop albums of 2006. Highly recommended. (Rating: 5++++)