Aha – some new material from B-Movie!
Most of you are probably thinking “wtf ?”, but for a couple of years in the early 80s B-Movie were required listening, somewhere between Bauhaus (another Midlands band), The Cure and the Bunnymen. A couple of erstwhile classic, ‘Remembrance Day’ and ‘Nowhere Girl’ still stand the test of time, while BM’s favourite ‘Marilyn Dreams’ was a bargain bin 12 inch find (missus), and still sends the shivers right through the high heels and nylons…
So anyway, after some periods of fitful activity (but no gigs north of the border as yet) B-Movie appear to have sprung to life again…. And this is a welcome return to form, opener ‘Stalingrad’ sits well among such battle comparisons as ‘My Own Personal Culloden’ by the late Jock Scott. It should probably sound like a Sisters of Mercy (‘Floodland’ era) b-side but the lighter feel and higher range vocals make it less dark and threatening, and more Bowie-esque. The delivery and electronic backing do almost sound like it should go beside their 80s releases, a case of revisiting past glories but older, wiser and more wistful.
‘Somewhere Cold’ again has a glacial 80s feel, some nice keyboard riffs – there is more guitar on this one, very nice it is too… this appears to be a song of regret, mystery and wonder – looking for somewhere cold, maybe Iceland would suit (not the retail chain…).
It is very good to have B-Movie back, in this age of downloads and streaming, now accessible at the click of a button, maybe things have changed, but the songs remain the same…