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1-2-3-4 Get Movieland

Local band 'Blows Up' on fast and fiery debut EP.

Alex Hudson 4 Apr 2013TheTyee.ca

Alex Hudson writes for various music publications and runs a blog called Chipped Hip.

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Movieland: another wild night of pop.

I'm beginning to think that I may have fried my attention span by hitting the reset button too many times on my PlayStation as a teenager. I can't think of any other reason to explain why I enjoy pop songs best in succinct blasts of around one or two minutes; if a tune's going be any longer than that, it had better be damn good.

That's why I'm immediately drawn to Blows Up, the debut EP from Vancouver four-piece Movieland. This fast and fiery collection packs seven songs into a little more than 11 minutes, with the longest track running only a shade over two minutes. In that time, the group shares vocal duties four ways, piles scorching distortion on top of brisk rhythms, interpolates Hole's "Violet," and sings curse words in tuneful harmony.

The group's lineup includes some familiar faces for those acquainted with Vancouver's underground pop and rock scene; Alie Lynch was a member of Kidnap Kids, Adrienne LaBelle plays in Aunts & Uncles, and Davina Shell is the primary songwriter of Thee AHs. (I'm not familiar with any of drummer Selina Crammond's other projects, but a quick Google search reveals that she plays in a group called Haiku Charlie.)

Much like Shell's work with Thee AHs, these songs are cute and occasionally silly, but thoroughly charming. "Craigslist" describes an online hookup in embarrassing detail, while the expletive-laden "1-2-3-4 Get Fucked" is filled with giddy group shouts and lovestruck self-pitying. This tune is the true winner of bunch, since it best embodies the band's mixture of fiery punk and sock hop melodicism.

Elsewhere, "Bad Hands" boasts the collection's hardest hitting rhythms and nastiest distortion, and features sinister lyrical references to being burned at the stake, while "A Blast" softens its charge with bleary vocal reverb, and the combustible "He Cares More If You Forget About Me" closes the EP with angry shouts and that aforementioned Hole reference.

Blows Up was released in late March as one half of a split tape with local trio PUPS. That means that, before your mind has a chance to wander, it's time to flip over the cassette for another bunch of two-minute pop nuggets.  [Tyee]

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