Midnight Movies--Lion the Girl

With bright indie guitars crashing, Midnight Movies opens their sophomore album Lion the Girl with more of gloomy late-night themes that graced their self-titled debut in 2004. “Souvenirs” features Gena Olivier's melancholy voice, repeating the ominous line “Like children…” over winding detached instrumentals. Lion the Girl continues in the same way from there, dotting autumnal landscapes with classic guitar solos, scathing vocals, and creepy effects that wouldn’t feel amiss in a bone yard. Much like Belle & Sebastian, but lacking their brightness, or a modestly downcast TV on the Radio, Midnight Movies throws out some wonderful melodies (such as “Hide Away” and “Coral Den”) and snippets of guitar solos worth salivating over (“Patient Eye”). “Ribbons” and “Bell Tower” are quieter songs, brooding over old wounds that finally explode into a guitar-riff mess in “Lion Song.” Olivier’s vocals are a perfect match for this melancholy mood, adding the delicacy of female vocals with strength and resilience as well (think an indie, non-annoying Lacuna Coil). The album closes as the flowery introspective instrumentals of “Dawn” give way to the shredding shoegaze guitars of “Two Years,” dishing out one last catchy melody before descending into silence. Midnight Movies come off strong yet again, putting together an album that should truly be played at midnight. A release perfect for the brooding introspection that comes with late-nights, Lion the Girl also hides brilliant indie melodies, wonderful edge-of-shoegaze instrumentals, and of course Olivier’s own wonderfully creepy vocals.

(Published at ComfortComes.com)