After 7 years on that WRock-grind, it appears as though brothers Brian Ross and Bradley Mehlenbacher are hanging up their scarves. Of all the scene's notable dissolutions in recent years, this is particularly significant. You see, the Malfoys epitomized 2nd-generation Wizard Rock in its truest form.
Debuting in 2004 – at what was likely the first ever all-WRock show, a house party featuring Harry and the Potters that also saw the introduction of The Whomping Willows – the band represented the first instance of an act being formed in direct response to the Potters phenomenon. To put it another way, if the brother DeGeorge were MC Frontalot and YTCracker, then Brian and Bradley were Beefy and Ultraklystron. (And, by extension, the house party was… Rhyme Torrents? I dunno; maybe I'm grasping to extend my metaphor here.)
Still, the band served as the bedrock foundation of what would go on to become the musical arm of Harry Potter fandom, a cultural juggernaut that leveraged its recognition and acclaim into an engine for social good. Not bad for a couple of Parseltongued miscreants!
While naysayers have been prophesying the end of Wizard Rock since Deathly Hallows rolled on to bookstore shelves, and the disbanding of the Malfoys doesn't exactly run counter to said claims, it's hard to understate the impact that acts like DatM have had both on nerd culture and on the developing social awareness of their young fans. And for that, you power-hungry, soul-split revenants I salute you.
(Hat-tip to Matt, my finger on the pulse of Wizard Rockery for the tip!)
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