The Films "Oh, Scorpio" is an Album Not to Miss

The Films might just be my favorite band of this summer that actually didn't release any new music this summer. They're a four man band from Charleston, South Carolina that was apparently formed as a group of high school friends. The Films have two full albums out, Don't Dance Rattlesnake from 2007 and Oh, Scorpio which was released last summer but oddly wasn't released in the United States until spring of this year even though The Films are U.S.-based.

Since Oh, Scorpio didn't hit American stores until 2010, I'm counting the album as a 2010 album and as of right now it's making a strong argument for my #1 album of the year so far. The Films present an interesting sound that after hearing them first on Oh, Scorpio was a band split between folk and rock which kept a nice more upbeat and catchy sound than a lot of folk music. It was only recently after listening to their older album Don't Dance Rattlesnake that I learned where that rock sound was coming from. The Films transitioned from a much more angsty/whiny indie rock sound on their first full album, but on Oh, Scorpio they've dropped much of the whiny vocals and more aggressive guitars in favor of a more matured sound that has noticeable folk influences, but it still maintains enough rock sound to avoid being classified as a "folk album" and should appeal to a pretty wide audience for keeping fans of their first album as well as opening up to new ones. Ultimately, I think The Films have sound an excellent balance on Oh, Scorpio and they include a good mix of catchy summer jams like "Holiday" as well as slower songs where lead singer Michael Trent's voice really pulls through to drive the song, my favorite being "Pour it Out. None of it is necessarily going to floor you with amazement, but there isn't one song on the album that I don't enjoy which really pushes Oh, Scorpio into talks for my favorite albums of the year. That being said, I still really enjoy much of Don't Dance Rattlesnake, although it is a pretty different listening experience for how much more aggressive the sound is than Oh, Scorpio. Check out songs from both albums at the bottom of the article.

The Films are fronted by Michael Trent, who has been keeping busy when not working with The Films. Trent released an eponymous solo album in 2007 and in May of this year released a second solo album, entitled The Winner. I only just bought these purchased and downloaded these albums from Amazon within the last hour and haven't been able to listen to them, but they offer a more acoustic sound that is even further away from the rock tones of The Films first album than Oh, Scorpio is. Trent's work outside of The Films doesn't even stop there, he also has a duet album with Cary Ann Hearst entitled "Shovels & Ropes" which is very very folk-country as well as co-writing 6 of the 11 songs off of Butch Walker's latest album which has a more typical "alternative" sound to it, I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart.

Michael Trent is clearly comfortable with experimenting in with different genres and I think might be one of the brightest song-writers still riding underneath the waves of the indie movement (The Films nor him have a Wikipedia page, nor have an reviews on Pitchfork).

YouTube doesn't have videos for all the songs I wanted to feature, so just check out The Films Myspace page if you're interested in hearing what they bring to the table, and you can listen to "Pour It Out" on their Myspace page which is maybe my favorite from the album.

Below is "Holiday", probably the catchiest song from Oh, Scorpio and "Belt Loops" which is probably the catchiest song from Don't Dance Rattlesnake:


BELT LOOPS - OFFICIAL VIDEO

The Films | MySpace Music Videos