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Motion
Picture: Anhedonia
Anhedonia is the name of the new release from New York band Motion Picture. I dont have a dictionary handy, but anhedonia seems like it means misery-seeking behavior to me. Right away, this concept sparks off a few musical references. Morrissey was always trying to fend off accusations that his music wallowed in self-pity. The Pet Shop Boys actually accused him of this in a B-side called Miserablism. Just for the sake of it, make sure youre always frowning; it shows the world that you have substance and depth. Not to distract us from Motion Picture, but this is a crucial issue when you consider this album. Miserable music can sometimes inspire you in different ways. Billy Corgan was occasionally quite adept at turning embarrassing self-loathing into, um, songs that sold a lot, at least. Nine Inch Nails was good if you wanted to bang your head into a wall. Hefner is a newer band that sometimes crosses the lines into self-obsession, but they do it with these pretty little Beach-Boys-go-indie refrains that usually let you forgive them. Well, Motion Pictures lead miserablist Michael Morgan has some of the same tendencies here. Take Born to Cry for starters (not exactly Bruce Springsteen here, is it?) that documents the separate travels of a girl and a boy to that crucial part of life when they start crying. Or New Year: Maybe we parted ways for a reason, but God knows that I will never knowNew Years Day that was the time I threw it all away. Insert a bit of whiny spastic vocal delivery on most of these tracks and you get a good picture of whats going on. Now the bright side is the really good guitar work here. Its all over the place with offbeat time signatures and odd discordant interludes. It reminds me of lets-copy-Pavement-era Blur in a very fine way, and actually Michael Morgans vocals sometimes reach ridiculous half-falsettos and moans that Damon Albarn and even Stephen Malkmus have been known to use. The major difference here is the lyrics, which is why I pointed those out first. Perhaps Morgans most amusing and scary lyrics can both be found during the Saturday Line, a manic-depressive song that is kind of cool and very scary at the same time. Man I wish I was crazyI dont know you, but I will find you (yikes, I better write a positive review, huh?). Will someone Fucking save us from RocknRollInterpol is good, Interpols OK, but we dont need another, yet a million come our way. Well, Motion Picture is certainly not ashamed to stamp their release with a full on display of disenchantment, and they can sound pretty novel on a few of these tracks. As for me, its a bit high on the gloomy subject matter, and this could be a problem for them finding new fans; but I commend them on a solid musical attempt to deliver this subject matter, and they certainly have lots of potential. So if youre still furious with Malkmus for ignoring your Bullet-With-Butterfly-Wings request at his last solo gig, Anhedonia could be the album for you.
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