Exile Baby
Digitone Records
3 Stars

Idealistically, being a two-piece band can be either a curse or a blessing. Certainly, it limits the boundaries to which you can push yourself musically, but then again, it’s much easier to keep everyone coming to band practice when it’s either you or them. Cinema, Cinema embarks down the duet road with a handful of trippy guitars and driving drums, leaving us dazed, confused and somewhat rocked along the way. Whether it is the spaced out opening of “Shiner No. 1” or the rocking riffs of “I Don’t Wanna Be Yr Boyfriend,” Cinema, Cinema pushes the experimental tag rather hard with mixed results. Sometimes they sound natural; other times they sound too weird for their own good.

The sprawling melodies of “Shiner No. 1” open the disc, along with tripped out guitars that mix with tom hits that never let up. Match this combination with eerily produced vocals and you get something that might end up on the stereo of your drug-inclined friends (not to say this track isn’t good otherwise). Instrumental track “The Natural” is a waste of track space, as the minute-long piece never actually reaches its full potential. “RX” gives us an introduction to the pedal-board excursion that this record thrives on, showing bits and pieces of different guitar sounds from dirty wahs to fuzzy riffs. This is where Cinema, Cinema does the best with impressing listeners- by combining the guitar artistry with rocking drums. This would translate well in a live show. “An Obstacle” comes across rather weak, sounding much like what The Beatles sound have sounded like had they used an effects processor but kicked Paul and George out of the band. This track misses the energy and impact of the heavier tunes, and this song is out of place.

“I Don’t Wanna Be Yr Boyfriend” picks things back up with some of the dirtiest use of wah/flange/whatever effects ever heard. Guitars certainly take the spotlight away from the vocals in this instance, which apparently is the trade-off you have to make on Exile Baby. Sure, the vocals could be better spotlighted, but with the amount of ear-opening fretwork going on they should stick with keeping that portion of the band’s sound intact. “Hope Dies Last” pushes the tempo with relentless hi-hat sticking that opens up into a rocking tune that for the most part, relies more on drums and vocals than guitars. It is a huge change from the aural string assault on the tracks before and after this one, and it makes this track stand out because it keeps up the energy without sacrificing too much of what you expect to hear.

“The Desperate Acts” starts with building drums and riffing with punches of ambient guitar and haunting vocals, allowing for a slower feel for much of this track. Again, it works because you’ll hear enough between the never-let-down drums and funky guitars to stay interested, though some would consider such string-laden nonsense a waste of time. The nearly seven-minute long “Shiner No. 2” opens with a fury of toms, cymbals and snare hits that get slightly drowned out by the atmospheric guitars that should be more in the background. A droning tom beat anchors the proceedings behind some interesting (to say the least) guitar work that borderlines between sparse, sprawling melodies and mindless noodling. This is a tough track to get into, and it’s slightly weak.

There are some really fine moments of musicianship for Cinema, Cinema on Exile Baby. Considering this is the first full-length from the band, it will be interesting to see what parts of this record they will develop further as they continue to write new songs. Hopefully they pick the right ones. –JASON GARDNER

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