Judging by the apparently unassailable rise of both Interpol and Editors, it seems doomy, stadium-sized angst harking back to those cruise missile-ridden days of the early '80s is back with a vengeance right now. So I guess it's no surprise San Franciscan quintet FILM SCHOOL feel there are still long overcoats available to don in the college cloakroom.
And to be fair, "On & On" suggests such garments suit them. Indeed, they soon cut a swathe into the song's driving, atmospheric gloom and make it sound convincing as they proffer the expected nervous heartbeat basslines, impatient drums and strafe-ing guitars. By the four-minute mark it's sounding volatile and by the time it finally hits the fade at 5 minutes plus, the needle's hitting the dangerous 'anthemic maelstrom' red.
Not bad at all, and B-sides "Plus One" and "February" provide further food for thought. "Plus One" is considerably more pastoral than its' erstwhile A-side and built upon a laconic bass motif and a slow, yawning drum tattoo. The vocals are surprisingly geeky, there's a nice warm mellotron (I think) wheezing away and instead of the long mac brigade, all of a sudden the likes of Pavement and Nada Surf are pushing their way to the front of the influences queue. Oh, OK.
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"February", meanwhile, is kinda forlorn and determined all at once and falls somewhere between the brooding grandeur of "On & On" and the campus rock of "Plus One", but is pretty compelling whichever way you slice it. So there.
"On & On" and its' attendant tracks, then, provide a decent first glimpse of what the hopefuls attending Film School can muster. Some editing and invention may still be required, but the initial rushes suggest these guys made the right decision to enrol here.
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