Concert Review: Small Movies Vinyl Release Show w/ The Cordial Sins and The Receiver at Rumba Cafe
Columbus band, Small Movies, released their debut album, One, online back in August, but have now achieved what so many musicians long for, a vinyl pressing. To celebrate the physical release, the band threw a vinyl release show at Rumba Cafe, smartly slotting their own set between two great fellow Columbus bands, The Receiver and The Cordial Sins. From the absolutely packed crowd present at Rumba, it was clear that while Small Movies is still a relatively new venture for Justin Roth (Electric Piano/Synthesizer), Donnie Mossman (Bass), Adam Cummins (Drums), and Parker Louis (Vocals), they are quickly gaining the notice of music fans in Columbus.
Small Movies’ sound is grungy alternative rock, driven by Roth’s distorted electric piano, Mossman’s weighty bass, and of course Louis’ big voice. If you’ve been around the local music scene in Columbus, you may have caught Louis’ former band, Forest & The Evergreens, or one of his solo sets around town, realizing that he is a bona fide rock star as soon as you hear Louis sing a few notes, or see the emotion that fuels his performance - even if the rest of the country hasn’t figured it out yet. The vocals provided by Louis are the perfect compliment to the music being churned out by Mossman, Roth, and Cummins. On the album, the band is joined by great saxophonist Dana Colley of the band Morphine, and for the live show was joined by Faheem Najieb, whose baritone sax was a sublime addition to the band’s already smooth sound. Among the standouts from both the album and the live show are “Flood,” “Overboard,” and “Everything.”
After the smooth bass and keys driven sets from Small Movies and The Receiver, The Cordial Sins brought all of the guitar heat to close out the night with a killer set. Lead by Liz Fisher (lead vocals, guitar) and Corey Dickerson (lead guitar, vocals), the Sins have really come into their own as one of the best rock bands in Columbus, especially since the release of their new EP, Only Human, back in the fall. In addition to great tracks “Go On,” “Control,” “Only Human,” and current radio single “Under Fire,” the Sins treated the crowd at Rumba to a brand new unreleased song, “It’s Not Enough.”
Opening the show was The Receiver, psychedelic dream-pop/prog-rock project of brothers Casey (lead vocals, bass, keyboards) and Jesse Cooper (drums, vocals). The simple configuration of The Receiver’s live show really allows Casey’s voice to shine and lead the way through the fantastic musical backdrop the brothers create. The brothers have released three albums to date, Decades, Length of Arms, and most recently 2015’s All Burn, the latter via Kscope Records.
Check out the photo galleries below for all three bands.
Many more photos can be found over on our Flickr page.
Small Movies:
The Cordial Sins:
The Receiver:
