The set list is titled 'Ass Poppin set' and for the most part, it provides a swift kick to the indie fans’ arses. Comfortable it isn’t. The fifth outing of the three piece is enjoyably uncompromising, as Ben lays down the insistent drum beats that sets up Martin to drawl his marvellous vocals over Jude’s swaggering bass line.
 | | Happy**Birthday (pic: Ged Camera) |
Melody is absent, but passion and intensity are hereby the bucket load. When you think you have measured the beat, it abruptly changes mid song, just to make sure you don’t get too complacent. Don’t be fooled by first impressions though. With a moniker like HFB, you might expect sneering disdain, but this lot have a caring centre for their community. After all, they do ask "Where’s the ** library gone?" The last time the Cinematics played Manchester, it was with the Editors at the Academy, so that might be the reason as to why they played a shortened set, but there’s no doubting their on-stage commitment.
 | | The Cinematics (pic: Ged Camera) |
Indeed, a good five minutes before showtime, they don’t have to be dragged from their drinks and groupies, but are stood eagerly waiting to go on. Guitar in hand, they produce a big, full sound that envelops the venue in a manner that their name suggests – there seems to be so much going on musically; the chiming guitars to the effects pedal being wound up to angst vocals. Scott Rinning delivers the broad-brush lyrics ("breaking my back/with the weight of your heart" or "it’s all so beautiful tonight/it’s all so beautiful inside") with all the dramatic gusto he can summon, whilst the band mesh together in producing a sound that is a intense and windswept as the landscapes they grew up in. Music, it seems, to watch films by.
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