The Movielife

The Movielife: Has a Gambling ProblemHas a Gambling Problem (2001)
Drive-Thru Records

Reviewer Rating: 3.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: P-FreshP-Fresh
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on October 9th 2005Admit it, there's something really quite satisfying about proving someone wrong. The only thing better than proving someone else wrong, though, is proving YOURSELF wrong. Let's say one of your favorite bands has a new release coming out, and you're completely psyched for it. You go to the record sto.

Admit it, there's something really quite satisfying about proving someone wrong. The only thing better than proving someone else wrong, though, is proving YOURSELF wrong. Let's say one of your favorite bands has a new release coming out, and you're completely psyched for it. You go to the record store the day it comes out and you buy it. You come home, and you rip the packaging open, and you put it in your stereo. Shortly thereafter, a look on your face appears, akin to the expression you've got on your face after you've finished watching the scene in "Waterworld" where Kevin Costner drinks his own (albeit, filtered) urine.

You love said band so much, and you want so badly to love this record as much as you love all the other ones. You just can't, however. So you throw the CD to the back of your closet, or the bottom of your shelf. One day when you're cleaning stuff up to haul over to the local used record store, you decide to pop the album in, just for the hell of it, and you find out how much you actually appreciate the record. You've progressed in your taste, and you can't imagine thinking of a time when you *gasp* HATED that record!

Has a Gambling Problem, for me, is that record.

The album kicks off with one of the catchiest songs in this Long Island, New York group's catalog, "Walking on Glass." This track sets the tone for the following four songs, taking the band's use of melodic pop-punk from the previous full-length, This Time Next Year, to a new level, with a much more refined and precise sound. This could also have been the point of contention for many people, though, as many undoubtedly prefer the rougher, more hardcore leanings of It's Go Time and This Time Next Year.

So here we are, four years after the release of this EP, and the Movielife are no longer together. Sure, it's only been a couple years since the breakup, but I'm still holding out hope for a reunion, as I never got to see this band while they were around. At least I've got this EP and 3 full-lengths to keep me company.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

I_love_Toe (May 31, 2006)

i good cd tho i think walking on glass was the best song

Anonymous (October 12, 2005)

this time next year is their best material
i am the avalance is decent different but decent
nightmare of you is a good band and bayside is definitely the best of the former movie life bands

poopypants (October 11, 2005)

this ep was ok...i really liked 'walking on glass' at the time and my roomate loved 'hang grenade' ( i think we even covered it at some point in our old band)

40 hour train was their best ,but even then not amazing

'this time next year' has a few solid songs but overall it sounds 'edgy' new found glory but not as good

their live show was the shit though!

paul

Anonymous (October 11, 2005)

"this sounds like everything else on drive thru-records, the kind of music girls listen to when they pillowfight"

that was what kept me from ever checking this EP out, but i liked this time next year, and by chance heard 40 hours to penn recently and liked that too. after reading this review, i think i'll have to go back and finally give this EP a listen

-wehavecomeforyourchildren (school)

DickAround (October 10, 2005)

I saw these dudes live. They were energetic and I only knew one or two songs I had heard on comps. I knew them when I saw them live, so they were catchy enough.

I wouldn't buy this either way.

ramo (October 10, 2005)

This Time Next Year was practically their best album. They completely lost all that energy with the release of this EP. Too bad, they were pretty good at what they were doing.

Ramo

localh (October 10, 2005)

boogie noogie bunch is da bomb...

Anonymous (October 10, 2005)

Their fatal mistake was signing to drive-thru.

It's a shame because I love this time next year.

pabstboy (October 10, 2005)

The score is for Vinnie's new band I Am the Avalanche. The Movielife was so damn good.

pabstboy (October 10, 2005)

Great EP! Hand Grenade is so damn catchy!

SkolarX (October 10, 2005)

this cd always seemed like they just gave in, like they were a pop-punk band pretending to be a hadcore band and they one day they just said fuck it, lets make a pop record. wonderful results actually. they were actually one band that i thought just kept getting better as time went on, though they weren't getting any bigger. they would play detroit and have an amazing sold out show in the shelter when capacity was 400 and then play to 200 people in st andrews, then sell out the shelter again 2 months later. it was really weird actually

Anonymous (October 10, 2005)

This time next year is one of my favorite albums ever. Pinky swear is such a tune.

Anonymous (October 10, 2005)

he look. the two kens posted one after the other. cute

kenfuggit (October 9, 2005)

The 19 year old girls who live below me eat this shit up. They don't seem to like World Burns to Death, however.

-Ken

kenjamin (October 9, 2005)

my friend knew this kid that wrote a letter of thanks to the movielife saying that he was extremely depressed and suicidal and Vinnie's lyrics helped him out of his depression. The Movielife sent him a whole bunch of free shit and a personal letter of thanks in return.

The kid was going to start a zine where he would write letters to mall-emo bands and then post all the free shit he got. I guess he felt bad afterall and gave up on the idea.

William_David (October 9, 2005)

Weird, I've had this album forever on my shelf, and I don't know if I've listened to it yet. I'll have to get around to that. Thanks for bringing it back to my attention.

hubitcherkokov (October 9, 2005)

"[PFresh is] the cutest muddah to eva put on a mask!" - Crossbones

Anonymous (October 9, 2005)

"why would you go home THEN listen to the cd. you are obviously young and/or poor..."

hahahaha I can't believe you said that. This is punknews.org not ima17yearoldposhsinglechildwhohasachevy.org no sir your opinion means nothing you prentious wee fuck.

Moo

johnnydanger (October 9, 2005)

wow, i did the same thing, i hated this at first, now its a gem

Anonymous (October 9, 2005)

why would you go home THEN listen to the cd. you are obviously young and/or poor... in which case, you opinion means nothing.

score is for vinnies stint as guitarist for head automatica.

inagreendase (October 9, 2005)

this time next year, and 40 hour train back to penn. what was the other?

I'm not quite sure what It's Go Time is considered, but it has 9 songs...maybe a mini-album, though I usually just see those things as extra-long EPs.

threechordsandthetruth (October 9, 2005)

Good pre-breakup interview right here with Vinnie.

TheCaptain (October 9, 2005)

The first time I saw them live was in a dive in downtown KC, and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Tons of energy.

I saw them again months later, and it was solid but nothing remarkable. Vinny, the lead singer, is an extremely cool guy. I hung out with him after the show, and got a free signed shirt and some other shit. Although I think he got a little pissed when I told him I had downloaded their new album. Probably not a good idea.

Anonymous (October 9, 2005)

saw them live a couple years ago. not too impressive. i remember the singer being really stiff... not much crowd interaction. they also played a cover of some song that i remember thinking "these guys have no business covering this song". if anyone knows what i'm talking about, please tell me the cover song.

Anonymous (October 9, 2005)

good album.

i was only aware of two full length's by the movielife. this time next year, and 40 hour train back to penn. what was the other?

Anonymous (October 9, 2005)

one of my favorite live bands ever.

Crookedsuperhero (October 9, 2005)

Average pop music.

What's the deal?

TheCaptain (October 9, 2005)

Another band that never reached its potential, due to signing to a shitty label. This Time Next Year was classic, It's Go Time was good, but the others were definitely lacking. This EP was far too poppy, though there are a couple great tracks on there. And Forty-Hour Train, while not bad, was definitely a disappointment and way overproduced.

Anybody know the real reason they broke up?

AlmostPunkEnough (October 9, 2005)

yuck this crap sounds like alien ant farm.. - no

anyway. this is pretty good. two songs are great, the others, just above average. it's definitley not 'This Time Next Year', and 'Forty Hour Train...' was too different to compare.

"Hand Grenade" is an aweosme goddamn song. and this is more or less worth owning just for that. at least for the $7 i paid for it.

thirtyseconds (October 9, 2005)

The only real decent song of theirs was Hand Grenade.

kirbypuckett (October 9, 2005)

I just spent the last few hours listening to the Mummies, the Spaceshits, Teengenerate...but all that really matters it that P Fresh and PBR rule.

- Kirby

Anonymous (October 9, 2005)

this time next year is a great album

Anonymous (October 9, 2005)

No, they never ever did top This Time Next Year, I really liked that album. I was so bummed when they moved to drive through, recorded this and I popped it in...it was straigh up bland drive through pop punk. All the edge was lost. 40 Hour Train was decent, but really overproduced and nowhere near 'This Time'. They put on a really good live show though.

inagreendase (October 9, 2005)

They never topped This Time Next Year. Score is for that album.

This is like a 6/10...decent pop-punk tunes. I'd put it barely ahead of It's Go Time and a few rungs behind Forty Hour just because of IGT's shitty production.

localh (October 9, 2005)

yuck this crap sounds like alien ant farm..

vampa (October 9, 2005)

i agree about his voice, but i think the i am the avalanche stuff is the best work he's done.

etwiels88 (October 9, 2005)

Never really liked Vinnie's voice all that much...