If you were as lazy about your music as I was in the early 90's, Slowdive was one of those bands you took for granted. Miss a show on the tour? No problem-- catch them next time. Short on cash on the day Souvlaki came out? Not to worry, just pick up the inevitable interim EP. They were a fixture. And good to boot.

Well, now they're gone, just like that mom and pop grocery you always meant to support but seemed to usually pass over in favor of the wide aisles and new carts of the megalopolis Shop-N-Spend. And now that you've gotten over Mojave 3, you're suspiciously regarding this slight eponymous EP with the headache-inducing cover on the underexposed label. Fear of the unknown. Serves you right.

But fear not, slack-ass, fair-weather fans! Featuring Slowdive refugee Christian Savill paired with Sean Hewson of Whip, Monster Movie is a winning blend of mush and melody. As far as quality goes, there's no broken stride-- just a really, really long delay. Mid-tempo all the way, but more classic pop than shoegazer, Monster Movie aims to please. Only the muddled production has any chance of repressing these sweet, balloon-like songs. "Crash Landing" begins with that Catherine Wheel feel, at least in the chord progressions if not the saccharine croon of the vocals. "Time travel makes you crazy/ Always skipping through time/ You're slipping through a snowstorm/ We got a silvery sky/ I wish that we could crash land again" sounds worlds better sung than in print.

The teacher's pet on Monster Movie is the perfect "Every Time I Wonder," whose metronomic beat recalls early Guided by Voices. Elegant, textbook song structure consummates in a sonic doodle drone that subverts the expectations set just a couple of minutes earlier. The simple, plodding pop of "Street Lights" masks a tender melody that will dog you daylong. Make the mistake I did-- that is, listening to it on the morning commute-- and it'll still be with you as your lunchtime hum-along. Each song flaunts keen melodies, reminiscent of Oasis' Beatlerobbing, but without the arrogance. Or perhaps just with more appreciation.

The exception to all of the above is the nightmarish interlude "Rovaniemi." Here, Monster Movie ventures into sonic landscape territory. The kind of oppressive dream-out-of-control that twists up the cerebral cortex and toys with the collective unconscious. As a mood piece, it does the job nicely. As a companion to the rest of the disc, it seems a bit out of place.

At the dawn of this project, on this debut release, Monster Movie is put in the unenviable position of having a legacy. Will they ever fit into the hand-me-down clothes of Mojave 3? With Slowdive bassist Nick Chaplin waiting in the wings for the appropriately theatrical moment to step forward and lend his talents to Monster Movie, odds are good.

-John Dark