Film School's self-titled atmospheric rock album is not their first work, but it could feel like it is. Having started as a primarily solo project in 1998, the San Francisco-based team has transformed into a quintet, moving from a rotating cast featured in 2001's A Brilliant Career (which included former Pavement guitarist Scott Kannberg) to a regular line-up. Similar to many debut albums, Film School builds on well-received demos and EPs, and sees the band developing an anthemic presence with their post-goth, layered shoegaze sound, even though the anthems are not quite complete.
Despite owing to early 90s British bands like Slowdive, Film School's foundation in the darker undercurrents of 80s revival trends provides an easy counter to misplaced "too soon" critiques that met other My Bloody Valentine followers like Ambulance Ltd., Skywave, and Serena Manesh. The significant departure from Brilliant Career, "11:11", vibrates with a Joy Division or Interpol-esque hip-shaking riff, while the lead single "On & On" moves from Echo & the Bunnymen's dark dreamscapes to quavering Charleston rhythms and crumbled guitars. Faster tracks like "Harmed", "Pitfalls", and especially "Breet" share deceptively bouncy guitar lines with The Cure or stellastarr* amidst the darkness and cinematic distortion.
At times, Film School achieves a misty and grand psychedelic sound, but their compositions are not always as shimmering as their production. Ethereal quasi-ballads "He's a Deep, Deep Lake" and "Sick of the Shame" are expansively sprawling, covering dramatic dynamic changes and indistinct lyrics, but neither quite earns their run time of over five minutes. Elsewhere, the backward-looping effects and swirling keyboards of the untitled opener and two-minute quasi-instrumental "Garrison" pale in comparison to the more ambitious use of similar elements on Blur's "Caramel" or Talk Talk's "New Grass."
This variety makes Film School difficult to categorize, which works to their advantage even if the results are not always striking. The penultimate "Like You Know" begins with shoegaze noise before a prominent acoustic guitar places its melancholic sentiment somewhere between "Range Life" and Elbow. Another one of Film School's stronger songs is the closing "P.S.", a recap from the 2003's Alwaysnever EP, which floats a lazy Casio amidst founder member Krayg Burton's stuttering actions, whose Northern California drawl murmurs evoke a less-ironic Stephen Malkmus. "I will end with a perfect touch today," sings Burton, plunging into a saturated guitar coda that hints at post-grad promise.
https://filmschoolmusic.bandcamp.com/album/field
