The Cinema Eye are one of the most energetic and exciting bands to come out of Columbus OH lately. After long tours with the likes of Pretty Girls Make Graves and featured shows at SXSW, the band has finally released their first full length, “Some Nerve,” and are ready to take the world head on.
Get to know the band with these two mp3s: Not a Word | The Shut Down
Lead singer Mollie Wells is taking part in this week’s Tuesday Three feature. For those of you who aren’t keeping score at home, here are the rules: Recommed to us three albums. One from 2004, one from 2003, one from whenever. And while we’re at it, answer three questions. Here’s Mollie’s picks:
Death From Above 1979, “You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine” (2004)
DFA1979 is rock and roll in its best possible form: pounding, grinding and unbelievably infectious. It’s grit and sleaze, city streets, one-night stands, heat, heat, heat. There’s no time for second-guessing here; blink an eye, and you’ll miss the whole thing. Heavy, weighted bass lines slamming through hook after hook, often mimicking the vocals, lush with harmony, rife with attitude. Pinpoint drums that somehow maintain an air of sloppiness even though they’re startlingly precise. No guitar, but you’ll never miss it — the bass, leaning more toward the mid-range and enmeshed with dirty effects, carries this record as if rock-and-roll never needed guitars to begin with. But despite all the unmistakably rock references, “You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine” has moments of pure punk rock fanaticism, casual tributes to the era’s earliest (and best) times. Listen closely, and you’ll almost hear the New York Dolls. Or wait…maybe that was just Motley Crue. Either way. [buy it]
Turn Pale, “Kill the Lights” (2003)
Turn Pale’s “Kill the Lights” is one of those records that tends to make less-seasoned writers gnaw on their pencils and thumb through the thesaurus. Sure, we could dub it as what Joy Division might have been had Ian Curtis stuck around, but that would strip “Kill the Lights” of all its innovation (and besides, wasn’t that title already given to Interpol like, ages ago?). We could compare its moody, brooding tone to that of Lovelife, but that rolls over the lyrics’ (sometimes sarcastic) hope. We could even go as far to call up Pleasure Forever, their cabaret-trash vocals and simple instrumentation, but even that isn’t entirely apt. Suffice to say this: Turn Pale simultaneously enrapture and scare the hell out of me. They are at once freezing and boiling, emotionally detached and passionately charged. At first, it is a simple sort of chaos, cacophony; then it is light and reason. Then it is hope. Then death, then back again. I love it, but I can’t get my head around it. Which might be precisely why I love it. [buy it]
Hole, “Pretty on the Inside” (1991)
Last night at a semi-drunken birthday party, I spent nearly an hour arguing the merits of this band. In this corner: several girls, myself included, many of whom sing for bands. In that corner: several boys, birthday boy included, many of whom also sing (or play) for bands. Our opening jabs: Courtney Love, however loathsome and annoying, inspired and empowered us as teenagers in a way that no woman (save PJ Harvey) had done before. Their immediate uppercut: yeah well, Kurt Cobain probably wrote all of “Live Through This,” and it’s still nowhere near as good as “Nevermind” or even “Bleach.”
Which is why I’m throwing “Pretty on the Inside” on the table. Look, I know it’s not the best record ever made, it’s probably not even in my top five. But it is in my top ten for this reason: I am a girl who likes heavy-handed, gritty, obnoxious music, and this record made me feel like it was okay to be a girl who likes heavy-handed, gritty, obnoxious music. Sappy, sure, but unabashedly true. As a kid in Lancaster, Ohio, I didn’t have immediate access to Bikini Kill or Sleater-Kinney, I didn’t know about that whole underground movement of women rockers, I just knew that I wanted noise, I wanted volume, I wanted to scream. After hearing “Live Through This,” the commercially viable record that may or may not have been written by Cobain, I knew that I wasn’t alone. And, just as I did after hearing “Nevermind” and subsequently seeking out “Bleach” (because remember, I was a sheltered kid in a rural town), I discovered that early Hole, like “Pretty on the Inside,” actually spoke much more clearly to that obnoxious need I still have for volume and intensity. As much as I’ll never hear the end of this comment from certain Hole-hating friends, I wouldn’t be in a band today if it weren’t for this record. And love it or hate it, I’m not the only one. [buy it]
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:
Three Major Milestones In the Life of Your Band
1. Touring for the first time in March of 2003. This was, by far, the most discouraging and frustrating tour I’ve ever been on, bad enough that we now refer to it as our “practice” tour, refusing to even give it the distinction of being real. But despite the overwhelming problems, we made it without even one thought of giving up. That alone made me realize that we’ll take this as far as it can go — problems, strangely, have a way of not fazing us.
2. Being signed to Sound Virus Records. It’s a small indie label, true, but it’s been our backbone for over two years. Sound Virus, by virtue of working with prominent indie bands, gave our name instant credibility and allowed us to do things right off the bat that some bands have worked years for (such as playing South by Southwest or at Los Angeles’ Troubadour). Mikey Ott (SV’s owner) has shown us such an unfailing amount of faith and patience, we really couldn’t ask for much more.
3. Being featured in Spin Magazine. Okay, so “featured” isn’t the best word. It is, after all, just a small-ish blurb, one of five on a list of records currently on rotation in the Spin offices. But it’s there. With a picture. And it’s Spin. Our picture, however small, is in Spin Magazine. Maybe it’s silly, but that’s just amazing to me.
Two Thigns About Me That You Probably Don’t Know
1. I have always wanted, more than anything in my entire life, to be a stand-up comedian. I envy that sort of humor, the ability to turn human folly or even mere schadenfreude into a viable set of hilarious jokes. I am just as moved by a great comedian as I am a great band, and I’ll quote people like Brian Regan or Todd Barry far more often than I will Bob Dylan or Lou Reed. It’s just an amazing sort of talent, that stand-up blood. Not every funny person can cut it, some shouldn’t even try. Like me. My jokes are hard enough on my friends, there’s no way I’m hoisting that sort of hurt on the general public.
2. I obsessively collect television shows on DVD. And not especially good ones, oh no, that would be too easy. Sure, I have my share of “The Office” and “Family Guy,” but I tend to get way more excited about like, “Felicity” or “Gilmore Girls” or “My So-Called Life.” I seriously can’t get enough of those corny one-hour dramas, I internalize them as if they represent my own life. Which makes sense when I’m watching “My So-Called Life” and remembering the hell that was high school, but it doesn’t really explain my attachment to “West Wing,” does it?
One Recommendation for Bands on the Road:
1. Learn, very quickly, to deal with being sick. It’s all too easy to mope and whine and roll over on responsibility when you’ve got the flu at home, but that just can’t happen on the road. You’ve got to keep going regardless of your sore throat and runny nose. Hell, I know someone who once played a show with a collapsed lung! I don’t recommend that sort of extreme, but you definitely have to be prepared for sickess — you will inevitably get sick at least once per tour. They key here is to learn not only how to suck it up and deal but also how to keep the sickness from lasting too terribly long. Did someone say tips?
— Become very, very acquainted with vitamins and herbal supplements. The best I’ve found for combating illness are echinacea, st. john’s wart, ginseng, garlic, vitamins A, B and C, and zinc. Take these things religiously; a lot of them can be found in combinations, so you won’t be taking 45 pills per day.
— Try to stay away from chemical medications like cough syrup or pain killers. They really only mask the problem and will end up keeping your immune system from working as quickly as it can. The only exception to this is nasal spray for singers — gross as it sounds, it’s the only thing that clears your sinuses long enough to get you through a set. I tried once to sing with horrible congestion; trust me, it;s ugly.
— Difficult as it is on tour, steer clear of fast food, at least for a few days. If you absolutely have to eat that stuff, get a salad. I’m as much of a fast food junkie as the next guy, but the sugar and fat in that food will only make you feel worse. You need lots of veggies and lean protein and water. It’s the only way you’ll get better.
— If you’re in a rock band, consider taking the energy level down half a notch, at least during the height of the sickness. I know, I know, it’s difficult to do, especially since the adrenaline will temporarily make you feel better, but you’ll thank yourself the next day. Explain to the audience that you’re sick, and they’ll understand. After all, a mildly modified show is better than no show at all.
Mollie Wells is the singer for The Cinema Eye
