The Room release ‘Magic Games’ video from ‘Doom Pop!’ album
Liverpool post-punk band The Room release the “Magic Games” video, taken from their album “Doom Pop!” on 9×9 Records.
Liverpool post-punk band The Room released the video for “Magic Games”, a single from their album “Doom Pop!”, released September 3, 2026, on 9×9 Records.
“Doom Pop!” is an 11-track album distributed in North America via Darla Records, available on CD and limited mixed eco-vinyl, and digitally via Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The tracklist runs “Drill, Baby, Drill,” “Magic Games,” “Things Have Learnt to Walk That Ought to Crawl,” “Trespassing,” “Temptation Harbour,” “Doom Patrol,” “Continent of Lies,” “The Room,” “No One Comes Here From the Town,” “Stories” and “Drones.”
The album was recorded and mixed by Steve Powell at Ark Recording Studios in Liverpool, produced by Dave Jackson and Steve Powell, and mastered by Pete Maher, with cover artwork by Genevieve Baker. The band’s current lineup is Dave Jackson on vocals, Becky Stringer on bass, Darren Brown on guitar, Ethan Kyme on keyboards, and Clive Thomas on drums, joined on two tracks by Tom McCabe.
Where much of “Doom Pop!” addresses authoritarianism, disinformation and global unrest, “Magic Games” turns to childhood memory. “In contrast to the darker tone of much of the album, ‘Magic Games’ is based on early memories; playing with toy knights and scuba divers in my grandparents’ parlour while listening to Vaughan Monroe sing ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’, while a distantly remembered Grandad slept in his armchair with a bottle of his favourite beer next to the fireguard.” says Dave Jackson.
Reviewing the record, Big Takeover Magazine called it “Bunnymen-infused, indie eclecticism… a heady blend of left-field pop and a progressive post-punk poise for the discerning, contemporary alt-pop picker.”
About The Room
The Room formed in Liverpool in 1979, led by singer Dave Jackson and bassist Becky Stringer. The band recorded four sessions for John Peel’s BBC radio show, appeared on “The Whistle Test,” and worked with Television’s Tom Verlaine and producer John Porter (Roxy Music, The Smiths, Billy Bragg) on the 1984 album “In Evil Hour.” Earlier releases included “Bitter Reaction” (1980), “Indoor Fireworks” (1982) and “Clear!” (1983), followed by the posthumous 1985 release “Jackpot Jack,” drawn from BBC radio sessions.
After the band split in 1985, Jackson and Stringer went on to form Benny Profane, Dust and Dead Cowboys; Jackson also recorded as The Room in the Wood with Paul Cavanagh. The Room reformed in 2022 with Jackson and Stringer joined by guitarist Darren Brown, keyboardist Ethan Kyme and original drummer Clive Thomas, releasing the albums “Restless Fate” (2023) and “The Telling” (2024), and the single “Nemesis” in February 2025, before “Doom Pop!” in September 2026.
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