Though the name reminds me of some schlocky sci-fi B-movie that sees a young Jamie Lee Curtis screaming at the top of her lungs while being chased by some creature of the night, instead, Midnight Movies has a chanteuse singer who can bang away on the drums at the same time. Though not impossible, it is impressive as playing the drums is a pain in the ass itself.
There are psychedelic sun-drenched undertones to this album that are very California. A bit dark at times, the songs are driving the way, say, Sonic Youth’s recent albums are. But it’s drummer and vocalist Gena Olivier’s Nico-esque voice as well as a variety of electronic sounds created by fellow band mates keyboard/guitarist Jason Hammons and off-beat guitar work by Larry Schemel that positively prevents this album from being an alternative throwback.
Formed in Los Angeles in 2002, they have quickly established themselves as a band that creates rock music that’s a little left of center. From the opening of their self-titled album on “Persimmon Tree,” Olivier’s voice lays the foundation to a haunting track that see’s Jason Hammons keyboard sound creations egg Olivier on with an electronically rock induced rhythm that conjures up the old mixed in with the new.
The album switches frequently from guitar driven art-rock to slowed down creeping rhythms that occasionally break the norm of the standard rock riff. On “Human Mind Trap” guitars distort and boldly create psychedelic images. Not that the band sounds completely like that at all. What they do though is pull from that style. They are a bit Velvet Underground, a bit Sonic Youth, a bit Brian Eno, a bit psychedelic, and a bit 90’s alternative. When you’re done picking out some of the influences, what you are left with is music that is a whole lot more than just that. A good band doesn’t sound like the band’s they were influenced by, rather the genre those bands are in. That’s where Midnight Movies does good. They are like many bands yet sound like only one and that, by the way, would be Midnight Movies. |