Travel for pleasure is a characteristic that is only found in humans. There is no other life-form on our planet that travels for pleasure. Ok lots of animals have to travel for food or sex but none say 'Hey Herbert (common moose nomenclature) fancy a jaunt to Miami for Spring break?' That would be covered under the need to travel for food and sex but you get my point.
Cults (Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin from San Diego) eponymous debut creates the sense of travel. Not only across continents but also through time. Japanese popesque tunes infected with sixties overtones, mixed with cultish undertones, bebop harmonies, reverb and subtle samples (of actual cult leaders). Delightful buoyant choruses and punchy hooks fill this lo-fi pop gem.
From the the opening track 'Abducted', one of the tracks of the year, through 'Go Outside', the powerful yet dreamy second track on the album you can feel the tenderness and youth in Madeline Follins voice.
'You Know What I Mean' with the plea to "please come and save me" was born in the fifties yet we are transported across decades to the eighties and the synth cut harmonies of 'Walk All Night'. The oriental landscape of 'Never Heal Myself' is achingly serene. Its easy to make comparisons between love/insanity, cults/kidnapping of the heart but with Cults the imagery is intoxicating.
Save the environment don't travel for just for pleasure, get this album instead, reduce your carbon foot print and the chances of finding yourself in a life raft on the Pacific Ocean with a 450lb Richard Parker as your only companion!
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