Cinema West

(Dark Candy)

Now that the brothers Gallagher have anointed Austin’s Cotton Mather their successors, perhaps it’s finally safe for local Britpop bands to come out of the studio. On Cinema West’s 23-minute, self-titled debut, this capital city fivepiece darts out of the gate with a snappy, XTC sugar rush, “You’re the Reason,” and never looks back (in anger or otherwise). Thanks to Austin-based producer/mixer/ master(mind) David McNair, Cinema West sounds big-budget but no-frills; crisp and clean, no caffeine. The fluttering “Pharmacy” and the Primal Screamisms of “Uboat Dreams (Bete Noire),” which blooms like Radiohead Jr.’s “Creep,” work wonders even if the songs don’t stick to your teeth. “Golem,” “Clausewitz on Love,” and “Odalisque” all bob and weave through Radiowave’s happier PC dreams, less tumultuous, but laced with the right minor chords — and always plenty of snap. Well-focused, Cinema West has its sound and vision in sync, now it’s time to make the full-length feature.

**.5

This article appears in February 4 • 2000.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.