You have to love a band that takes an extra step, one more leap into creativity than you'd imagine. In the case of Cinematic, that bonus effort is reflected in their jewel case which actually isn't; it's a film can adorned with the group's logo. How can you not want to peek inside and play the disc with such magnificent packaging? Luckily, Cinematic have the skills that great expectations from such a genius move parks in the brain. This is an eclectic band, shuffling '70s pop and '90s alternative rock influences; in other words, soft-spoken piano balladry trades places with speaker-booming guitar pounders.
From the opening power chords of "Roger Over," one would immediately classify them as a melodic hard-rock combo - no, not the Nirvana or Metallica kind - but loud enough to blow the windows open. But there are surprises in store with moving, gentle pieces like the ear-meltingly lovely "Scared of Heights" and "Alone."
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This is an album that creeps up on you, reveals its sonic and lyrical layers after each spin, unreeling like, appropriately enough, a film. While I'm more glued to Cinematic's slower numbers - "How I Got Over You" is another heartbreaker - it's all balanced. What could have been schizophrenic is smooth as silk, and the group proves that there wasn't that much artistic space between Billy Joel and Joe Jackson.
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