Crushing on the Cinematics

Cold and dreary Glasgow was once a major industrial trading port. But these days, Scotland’s most famous export appears to be ’80s-influenced dance-rock bands. Sharing a similar vein as Franz Ferdinand, The Cinematics are yet another bright-eyed band of boys from Glasgow, and the group makes no pretense at who its influences are. 

Pieces like “Strange Education” and “Human” borrow dark yet danceable chords from Echo and the Bunnymen, while “Break” begins as a straight-up Smiths song before it becomes livelier later on, and “Race to the City” resonates of Bryan Ferry’s “Love Is a Drug.” Still other songs take their longing, lovelorn lyrical leads from The Cure, Jeff Buckley and even the Smashing Pumpkins. The band’s lead singer, Scott Rinning, also seems to take his grooming cues from previous decades’ icons:  His sideswept bangs are a dead ringer for Ian McCullough’s, Echo’s lead singer, and his handsome mug’s a little bit Tom Cruise, a little bit Ethan Hawke. 

Rinning explains that, although he and his bandmates—guitarist Ramsay Miller, bassist Adam Goemans and drummer Ross Bonney—weren’t weaned on acts from MTV’s “120 Minutes,” they consciously look to them for influence. “Well, there were current bands that we liked,” he says, “However, as we wanted to enrich our sound, we found that we would have to delve to an earlier era, so we started listening to more bands from that time.” 

Miller said it was a simple choice for them: “Basically, it was [starting a band] or singing in chorus at University,” he quips. 

“We’re all young and starting out,” says Rinning. “So it feels more natural. Although we’re four guys that have different ideas, it’s a lot easier to agree on ideas for us.”

Nov. 15. Rebel, 251 W. 30th St. (betw. 7th & 8th Aves.), 212-695-2747; 8, $10.