6

Popcorn anyone?

The Cinematics hail from Scotland and have already attracted some major league attention in their short career, culminating in support slots with the likes of 'We Are Scientists and Editors. 'Break' is their first single of 2006 and looks to build on last years 'Chase'.

'Break' is a fairly up tempo song with a nice beat going on but that aside nothing really grabs you about the verse. That they cite influences such as Echo and the Bunnymen is perhaps evident in the rather 80's feel that pervades throughout. The highlight of 'Break' though is the chorus, which combines catchy vocals with guitar and prevents it from disappearing under the radar altogether. Ultimately though it sounds like just another song rolled off the production line and could be by any number of similar sounding bands around at the minute.

'Human' is by contrast a much slower and brooding affair, which threatens to build into a big chorus but then backs away at the last minute. More interesting than 'Break' in terms of dynamics but what is there to get really excited about here? Not very much when all's said and done. Competently played, nicely produced and for those with a penchant for darker indie musings you could certainly do worse than The Cinematics but for the rest of us it all sounds rather tired and familiar.