The Movies // wanna
by Kate Leib on June 5, 2015
Posted in: Album Review, Folk, Music, Punk, Rock
You may remember The Movies from when they opened for Cloud Nothings here back in February or you may remember them for the many house shows and bunker concerts they played around campus this semester. You may remember band members Will Cuneo, Nick Rehmus, and Bjorn Peterson from their radio show, “Blood and Thunder,” on which they almost exclusively played heavy music that ranged from melodic death metal to Death Grips. Or maybe you remember them from their role in the smash hit music mockumentary Bummer. Perhaps you don’t remember them at all, in which case where were you all spring? Either way, they’ve finally released their first album, titled wanna, on Bandcamp and lead singer Will Cuneo has some fine words to pair with the debut:
“several years ago, i pitched an idea for a documentary called “wanna” about sex addiction among senior citizens to the arts funding division of a not-for-profit called middlebury college. they deemed my project to be “poorly conceived in every imaginable way.” this mean-spirited pun prompted my total retreat from art for a whole three months, which i spent cleaning messes at a bar in the post-industrial wasteland of haverhill, ma. as my self-esteem slowly reconstituted itself, i tried to make “wanna” happen as a novel, a screenplay, a tumblr, and an installation piece by the side of the interstate. each attempt ended in abject failure. all we have left now is the soundtrack to that original groundbreaking documentary-that-never-was, which has been described as “exceedingly passable” by at least one person. here’s what some respected community members have to say about the movies’ first release, “wanna”:
“It’s a music band, that’s what it is.”
—Michael Kraus, professor of political science
“You might actually have something, and I didn’t always think that about you.”
—Meridith James Carrol, WRMC exec
“It really sounds like a band.”
—Mary Jane Cuneo, my mother
on this recording, you’ll hear impassioned, highly caffeinated, and ofttimes slightly buzzed performances by Nick Rehmus and Björn Anders Peterson. despite the fact that it is not a movie, we are very proud of this recording, and hope that you’ll enjoy it for what it is.
a big thank you to Dylan Otterbein for her good taste and unwavering support; to Dustin Lowman; to Greg Markowitz for reminding me what it means to dance; to Meridith James Carroll for coming to so many shows; to Benjamin Savard for having a good soul; and to Rod Morgan and the mill.”
Will just recently graduated, but Nick and Bjorn are still on campus for one more semester this fall. Though The Movies now list Chicago as their home base on bandcamp, they’ll always have a special place at Middlebury, and I’m sure this is not the last we’ll hear from any of the three incredibly talented Mill Boys. Check out wanna below, it’s available for download on a pay what want basis:
[bandcamp width=350 height=720 album=2192898232 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=63b2cc]
