Static
Cults
Released by Columbia Records
New York pop band Cults released their self-titled debut album in 2011. Since then, the band has endured touring and the romantic breakup of members Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin, only to come back with their deeper follow up, Static.
Opting for a more lo-fi sound on this album, the band seems to once again pull an emotional impact, not only with the sound but their self-inspired lyrics, such as in the song “I Can Hardly Make You Mine”—”If you could just give me a sign/We could leave it all behind.”
The album opens with the band’s nostalgic sounding “I Know,” whose piano and wall of sound seem to be aiming for a more focused sound. This starts the album with a more cinematic feel, also creating a thematic link through the use of static to fade between songs.
The album jumps right to the standout “I Can Hardly Make You Mine” which mixes catchy melodies, heavy synths and the return of the glockenspiel from the first album to make a song that shows their evolution as well as their style.
It then changes gears to the slow groove of “Always Forever” which takes a slow dance song and uses a killer lick to pull it into the synth arpeggio heaven that is its chorus.
“High Road” is a darker sounding track for Cults, bringing a more cinematic feel with its intense building prechoruses and open-yet-dark toned sound. It shows a sophistication from the band that wasn’t really present on their first album. “Were Before” runs a similar vocal melody to “High Road” but saves itself from sounding lazy by expanding to a violin covered chorus and an explosive ending.
“Keep Your Head Up” is one surprisingly bland song on the album. It’s very dense, and has a good chorus, but is a little too derivative of most pop.
The album seems to slip into a pattern as “We’ve Got it” also suffers from sounding derivative, outside of a short-lived solo section and its additional layering in the final chorus.
“Shine A Light,” while sounding like good Death Cab For Cutie, feels a little done for those who’ve heard it.
The album manages to end somewhat creatively on “No Hope.” After its generic start, it falls into a beautiful half-time ending filled with all the corny guitar looks it needs, and fades again to static.
Cults is experimenting and making some amazing new songs here, but they somehow manage to slip into generic pop/rock in the last third of their album.
