If Moviola’s newest single has a name to arms, it’s this: “The superior man understands what’s proper, and the inferior man understands what’s going to promote,” says drummer Greg Bonnell, who wrote and sings the monitor. “Struggle the ability with guitars.”
Thirty years later, unbeknownst to many, Columbus, Ohio’s Moviola continues to fend off obscurity with its eleventh album, Earthbound, accessible August 29 through Dromedary. Very similar to their countrymen in Guided By Voices and Ass Ponys, they have a tendency to thrive in a self-contained, lo-fi cocoon of their very own making—a spot the place their awkward eccentricities can shine. Whether or not they’re dabbling in aggressive indie rock, fuzzed-out Americana or the world-weary energy pop of “Slage Wave,” it by no means looks like they’ll be sticking with any of it for lengthy. And therein lies the attraction.
Bonnell and Jake Housh have been college students at Ohio State College after they first assembled Moviola in 1993, recording in varied basements, warehouses and attics and sharing cut up singles with such like-minded buddies because the Good-looking Household, Cobra Verde and Tobin Sprout. Albums emerged as soon as yearly or two … till they didn’t. The members of Moviola took a prolonged break after 2008’s Damaged Horses, selecting up just about the place they left off in 2019 with Scrape And Cuss. Given the general excellence of its recorded output, Moviola ought to have a passionate nationwide following akin to GBV’s. However then once more, the band by no means thought to play a lot outdoors of its residence state.
Recorded in Ohio, New York and Vermont, Earthbound qualifies because the band’s most streamlined and succinct effort—and that’s saying one thing. Bonnell has this to say in regards to the video for “Slage Wave”:
“It was shot and edited by Jake, starring the band, in a model of ‘Which Facet Are You On?’ come to life. This time, although, it’s at a scorching canine stand run by a domineering boss who practices administration by iPad. The ghost of Johnny Paycheck, union organizing, hilarity and unhappiness ensue.”
We’re proud to premiere Moviola’s “Slage Wave.”
—Hobart Rowland
