In recent weeks, New York City duo Cults have had a meteoric ascension to the top of the music industry’s echo chamber. Their self-titled debut album of easy-listening indie pop* elicited strong reviews from the likes of NPR and Pitchfork. This came after their buzz worthy single, "Go Outside", made the rounds on the blogs last year</a>, even prompting a music video featuring baby Franco.
So it was amidst this hype that a diverse audience of young and old -- where khakis and button downs flirted with plaid and Converse -- took to Babeville’s Ninth Ward on Thursday night. We were hoping to get an intimate glimpse of a band that may prove to have the strongest female-lead in the indie scene since the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; Madeline Follin’s endearing sweetness makes a nice contrast to Karen O’s complicated convictions.
Those looking for a sense of Cults’s live show on the Internet beforehand would likely have been disappointed. A Youtube video of Go Outside posted of a Mercury Lounge show from last year, revealed a raw, if not downright scared stage presence. Thankfully, the band has matured in the past year, and they now seem more at ease with themselves, their songs, and their rising stardom; taking full grasp of the mic and not too self-conscious to dance around on stage to their own music in a room with less than 100 people. Even so, the band will need to continue to grow and expand its sound to realize its full potential – a 45 minute set with no encore does not a marquee band make, and it remains to be seen how well Cults can manage headlining a much larger venue.
Indie pop’s earnest convictions and twee sensibilities can sometimes make a striking contrast to the conflicted and bleak American experience looming over us in 2011 (courtesy of George W. Bush’s colossal fuck-up of eight years of our lives), and it’s remarkable just how dated such bands as Clap Your Hand Say Yeah and Boy Least Likely To sound just five years after their heyday. But Cults has managed to brilliantly bridge their up-tempo, xylophone-tinged melodies with affected declarative of lovesick despair. “Help me, because I’m feeling shaky” Follin sang during a stirring rendition of "You Know What I Mean". And standing there in the basement of a once-crumbling church in a crumbling de-instruialized city of a crumbling nation, it was hard not to feel shaky along with Follin; at least we had the xylophone to provide us with our youthful memories and their undercurrents of hope.
The highlight of the evening was the first song of the night, "Abducted", which featured electronic atmospherics over a hushed intro before crescendoing into lumbering guitars, driving xylophones, and neurotic yearnings. Perhaps not abducted, but the crowd was sufficiently entranced.
Two bands opened the show: Writer and Guards, both of which were new to this reviewer. The former impressed with a scratchy guitar and echoing choruses, reminiscent of a harder early Kings of Leon. The latter had a Pixies-esque vibe going on, but managed to rush through an expansive list of influences in their set – from The Beatles to Nirvana to a blistering cover of M.I.A.’s Born Free.
*Don’t believe me? Even a friend who loathes “hipster music” characterized the Cults album as “kind of catchy”.
~mn
its GUARDS
"hipster music" haha. i would love to see this band live. kind of excited for their actual go outside video. theres a weird teaser for it here: http://cultscultscults.com/
Go Outside is such a good video! If you haven't seen it yet...it's definitely worth checking out!! http://www.boingboing.net/2011/07/13/cults.html