Midnight Movies-Lion the Girl:Record Review for UR Chicago Magazine

Lion the Girl (New Line), the promising if underdeveloped second album from Midnight Movies, showcases a scattershot collage of influences. Certain moments—the first synth hook of opening track “Souvenirs”—mirror TV on the Radio, with densely layered atmospherics that never shy away from an adolescently theatrical melodrama. On “Lion Song” their rambling rhythmic drones and apathetic funk tonalities channel the late seventies specter of Krautrockers like Neu! or Can. Vocalist Gena Olivier makes comparisons to Nico easy, but only in a surface level aesthetic sense. Aiming for Nico’s heroin cool, she too often overshoots the mark, offering vocals so disinterested they ignore the cinematic melodies from which the band no doubt found their name. When she really shines—on the album’s strongest track, “Hideaway”—one imagines post-punk covers of the Cranberries: considerably less hip as an influence, but well crafted, organic songwriting never goes out of style.