The Cinematics - Love and Terror [Single]

The Orchard - Out Now on Digital Download

Straight away there's a distinct mood set by 'Love and Terror.' It's a mood that's like those misty woods you see in Werewolf movies. You know where someone is running away from some big hairy [or cheap rubbery depending on your budget] animal and there's this throbbing, pulsating timbre that's implying some sort of impending doom. Except The Cinematics have decided to lace this mood with some intricate guitar-playing straight from The Smiths / Joy Division school of acoustics that gives it this 80's sounding weight. It's big and heavy yet would seemingly be just as intriguing if it was stripped back and given some kind of simple haunting melody.

The Cinematics don't sound particularly new or impressive on first listen. In fact you might be lumping them into that bracket along with the likes of Interpol and Editors due to their pillaging of said 80's sound. Scott Rinning's vocals are Bunnymen-esque but let's all be slightly honest with ourselves here, for all that we deride these bands for harking back to familiarity and seeming homage- is it really a bad thing? I mean I like that 80's throb and hum and sure I prefer the older bands and their authenticity but I'm not going to turn my nose up at a band of this generation just because they are plagiarising a sound that has existed in the past that would just be foolish.

It is for this reason that I'm fond of 'Love and Terror' it reminds me of better songs by better bands but in a way that's quite nostalgic. Not trying to be a slight on The Cinematics when you consider the peers they remind you of.