Cults - Static
Release Date: October 15
Label: Columbia Records
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Label: Columbia Records
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Music these days is largely about ego and persona. The larger the ego, the more flashy the persona, the more likely it is to doom the band. Lennon, Dianna Ross, Bono, The Gallagher brothers - all people who rated themselves more highly than their bands, leading to ultimate disaster or worse - fading out of relevance into oblivion.
When Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion made their debut a few years back, they were essentially a bit of a novelty act, in the vein of The Ting Tings or The White Stripes or The Raveonettes, but without the ego. They were the hard-to-hate, guy-girl two piece making cutesy retro tunes, transporting you back to first dates at the Drive-In. I never really made it through their applauded breakthrough album. A lot of it was samey and the flavour got quite tired a few tracks in.
Well, they're back and their romantic relationship has fizzled and died. And that is great news for their music! A friend of mine said he wished Ben Gibbard could break up with Zooey Deschanel over and over again, because Death Cab just made no sense when they weren't mopey and depro. Cults sound SO much better ruing and regretting their decisions. Their sound has consolidated and strengthened and makes so much more sense now. Instead of pointlessly making retro sounds for the sake of making retro sounds, we now hear a story told by the use of retro sounds. It's nothing too sordid, and they don't go too deep, but there is definitely tints of anger, hurt and glorious depression. The narration carries you through the entire album, with one or two reflective interludes (the feeling of a TV turned to static at the end of a tormenting, regret fueled night alone on the couch), one borderline cheesy "stay strong" song ('Keep Your Head Up'), and the ultimately resolution - it's over. They don't stray very far from their 50s go-go sound, but when you're inspired to tell a story you need a cohesive medium to do so. This time round the sound is less of a novelty and almost blends into the background.
Cults have managed to do what the Beatles failed to do. Put their egos and pride aside and use the negative side of a relationship to tell an honest story. They may be broken up, but they're sounding stronger than ever. Yoko? Oh no.
WVS
When Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion made their debut a few years back, they were essentially a bit of a novelty act, in the vein of The Ting Tings or The White Stripes or The Raveonettes, but without the ego. They were the hard-to-hate, guy-girl two piece making cutesy retro tunes, transporting you back to first dates at the Drive-In. I never really made it through their applauded breakthrough album. A lot of it was samey and the flavour got quite tired a few tracks in.
Well, they're back and their romantic relationship has fizzled and died. And that is great news for their music! A friend of mine said he wished Ben Gibbard could break up with Zooey Deschanel over and over again, because Death Cab just made no sense when they weren't mopey and depro. Cults sound SO much better ruing and regretting their decisions. Their sound has consolidated and strengthened and makes so much more sense now. Instead of pointlessly making retro sounds for the sake of making retro sounds, we now hear a story told by the use of retro sounds. It's nothing too sordid, and they don't go too deep, but there is definitely tints of anger, hurt and glorious depression. The narration carries you through the entire album, with one or two reflective interludes (the feeling of a TV turned to static at the end of a tormenting, regret fueled night alone on the couch), one borderline cheesy "stay strong" song ('Keep Your Head Up'), and the ultimately resolution - it's over. They don't stray very far from their 50s go-go sound, but when you're inspired to tell a story you need a cohesive medium to do so. This time round the sound is less of a novelty and almost blends into the background.
Cults have managed to do what the Beatles failed to do. Put their egos and pride aside and use the negative side of a relationship to tell an honest story. They may be broken up, but they're sounding stronger than ever. Yoko? Oh no.
WVS
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| All future band photos will require 30cm of space between the two members. |
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