Red Light Cinema – S/T

Red Light Cinema – S/T / 2006 Self / http://www.myspace.com/redlightcinema / Reviewed 18 January 2006

Red Light Cinema are loud and fast, as is evidenced by their “Pandemonium”. This track ties together disparate genres, whether it be by having influences like Interpol, Billy Talent, or even the Red Hot Chili Peppers. All of this is linked together in a rock sound that is very easily to glom onto and love; Red Light Cinema play their songs with an ability and a talent that should catapult them into the big top soon enough. While the production level should not be something that reviewers give as much weight to as the other parts of the band, Red Light Cinema’s production levels on this EP surpass pretty much any other unsigned band today.

When I say that their tracks could be played on rock radio, I am not saying that with the added implication that they would need to get everything re-recorded, but rather that a DJ could lift the songs off of the EP and have fun with them. The band has enjoyed a modicum of success on Myspace, but with so many bands reaching the same level of friends (around 16,500 at the time this review is being written), the importance of that level may be a little suspect. The slower tempo of “Stir Crazy” gives the band another in the way of influences: Queens of the Stone Age and the Black Crowes. This track does not give the band any less in the way of intensity, but it shows that Red Light Cinema are no one trick pony.

While each of the tracks on this self-titled EP are solid and catchy in their own right, Red Light Cinema struggles to come up with a song that represents themselves fully and will get listeners by the boatful. Each of the tracks works well in succession, but there is not the “big single” that bands need to have before breaking into the mainstream. Still, the band has the mad skills necessary to break it big, and the fact that there is not one of these tracks currently on this EP is probably due to the fact that there just are not enough tracks for one of them to work its way out. Check out Red Light Cinema before they get any larger; you will like the band and have the added benefit of being able to say that you knew about them before they made it big!

Top Track: Stir Crazy

Rating: 6.8/10

[JMcQ]