Cinema Strange- A Cinema Strange 10th Anniversay Novelty Product

To celebrate ten years as a band, the boys from Cinema Strange have released this sort of double-EP: a CD collecting their original demo tape and new versions of all the songs recorded in 2004. What’s surprising at first is how raw and punk the new versions that begin the CD are. “Nightfalls,” originally recorded as “The Nocturnal,” has a brilliant throbbing bass line running through it, and the reverb-soaked guitar on “Agent X-Ray” is almost reminiscent of early surf music. The new versions are tighter, too, with the long instrumental meandering bits trimmed off the ends of “Sadist Sagittarius” and “Golden Hand.” Still, even the earliest demo recordings show the band’s energy seething beneath the surface. Sure, they were recorded in original drummer Alex Restrepo’s bedroom – and it shows – but underneath the overused delay pedals, you can already hear the band’s real energy starting to emerge, particularly in Daniel Ribiat’s bass playing. Cinema Strange’s signature sound still revolves mainly around singer Lucas Lanthier’s falsetto caterwauling, but the new material reveals a band more aware of their roots in early punk and more comfortable exploring that. Add in a limited edition cardboard case stuffed with stickers, photos, and a poster, and you have a collector’s item that’s really worth collecting.

For more on the mysterious and whimsical doings of Cinema Strange, visit http://www.nightmarezone.de/eng/cs/index.html.