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Long Beach’s Magic Lantern have finally gone and released a new sonic document after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. Eagerly anticipated by those who have been biding their time waiting for the band to get on with their uber limited cassette only and CD-R releases (their Self-Titled CD-R was limited to 30), “High Beams”, the band’s latest opus [...]
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With a name like Film School, and words like goth, indie and shoegazer appearing in various compound-forms when reading descriptions of their new album, Hideout – one may be prompted to avoid it like the plague, or embrace it like herpes. All VD humor aside, references to The Jesus and Mary Chain as well as My Bloody Valentine have been plentiful in discussion of this latest release from the Bay Area quintet, led by Greg Bertens, and for many that’s enough to love it or hate it without ever taking a listen. Being only a casual fan of the aforementioned bands myself I was unsure of how the album would strike me, but having faith in the quality of Beggars Groups’ roster I knew it deserved a fair chance.
Hideout draws you in gently with “Dear Meâ€, a fairly straightforward song thick in distortion and a chorus full of Bertens long-drawn syl-la-bles, as if to say “it’s okay, eyeshadowed emotional waifs, follow us.†Proceeding from there is “Lectric†(provided below), and it seemingly kicks the record into gear with its house-of-mirrors on amphetamine feeling and the introduction of additional vocals by Lorelei Plotczyk. With most song titles one or two words long on Hideout, I was intrigued by track four titled, “Sick Hipster Nursed by Suicide Girl.†Alas the most impressive aspect of the song is the title, the music being essentially one flanger-affected riff drawn out under additional noise layers topped with indistinct baritone vocals. Ultimately it’s the fact that most songs on the album could be described in this way, with a few exceptions including the ripping “What I Meant to Say,†that Hideout can’t rise above being unremarkable for me.
This isn’t a denouncement of Film School’s talent and it doesn’t mean that there won’t be those who love the record for the same reasons it’s mediocre for me. While my inability to be enthused with Hideout could be attributed to my general lackluster zeal for the artists of yore they are aping, I think it’s slightly more than that. There is an element of risk missing. I don’t mean risk in a “God Save the Queen†or G.G. Allin kind of way, but The Jesus and Mary Chain, Starflyer 59, My Bloody Valentine and others took risk in writing their brand of moody, melodic noise rock. They took elements of No Wave and created a more melodic (and let’s face it, listenable) mutation, while keeping the intensity high. Film School’s ability with Hideout to exist within this much-adored genre is undeniable, however I believe that had they taken more of a chance on making it their own, they and their fans would have been better served.