Cults
Not to be confused with my high school hard
rockin' heroes, The Cult, this band
would seriously disappoint if you were looking to head bang
to a Rick Rubin produced Zeppelin
tune. But if your thing is creepily infectious hipster chick
music, this might be more up your alley. Now, and I've mentioned
this on several occasions, I
don't have a whole lot of music that features a female lead
singer. Not sure why, other than the fact slacker indie
rock generally isn't women's work. So I'm immediately at arms
length when it comes to Cults and their brand of 60s throwback,
reverb drenched pop cuteness. Yes, I know the name Cults and
the album artwork doesn't say "cute," but their music sounds
like it could be coming out of a radio in some movie scene set
in the early sixties with a girl getting ready for her prom
in her taffeta gown and sportin' a gnarly beehive (or whatever).
Granted, they didn't have the samplers that this band seems
to love back in the day, but tunes like "You Know What I Mean"
sound like they're straight out of another era. The most striking
thing about the album is the production, though. The deep echo
put on the vocals and the instruments makes it seem like the
music is coming at you out of a dream or deep diabetic coma.
I gotta say that coming out of speakers it's a little off putting,
but in headphones the effect is much cooler. I had the opportunity
to see these guys live prior to even hearing the album and figured
the gnashing wall of sound and crazy reverb-buried vocals were
just part of the otherwise crappy soundboard mixing, but it
turns out that sound is intentional -- though the dueling guitars
and samplers from the two guys in the band who seem to do the
exact same thing (though one writes all the songs) was overkill
at times and overmatched the lead singer's voice, which is actually
pretty decent live. The album certainly grows on you after multiple
listens, but at times sounds like a rip from stuff you've either
heard in the past, or in the recent past -- though probably
presented in a different package. This album may not appeal
to everyone, but I can certainly see folks who like it reeeeally
liking it. |
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