Music Review : The Cult: Choice of Weapon

With their ninth album, Choice of Weapon, The Cult are back with a vengeance. After the lackluster reception to 2007’s Born Into This. With the aid of co-producers Chris Goss and Bob Rock, the band returns to their urgent, fiery best. After all, Rock did produce Sonic Temple. 1994’s The Cult and the criminally under rated Beyond Good and Evil.

Singer Ian Astbury is back at his shamanistic best.  His vocals, now deeper and more controlled, have urgency to them. His lyrics, derived from Native American mythology, Buddhist teachings and plain old life experience have taken on a maturity that alternately soothes and provokes. Billy Duffy’s rousing guitar work is at its blistering, seductive best on tracks like Lucifer and The Wolf.

The adrenaline-pumping rhythm of “Honey from a Knife” starts off the album, abetted by James Edwards’ chugging piano and the background vocal chant “We got the drugs”. Ian channels Jim Morrison in Pale Horse (which reminds me a bit of “King Contrary Man from Electric), and the hopeful poetry of “Elemental Light.” For the Animals, the first single, barrels through your speakers (or iPod) like a force of nature. The driving immediacy of “Amnesia” recalls the Stooges’ Raw Power.

The hallmark of the band has always been the unique chemistry between vocalist Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy. Duffy’s earthy riffs meet Astbury’s pontificating shaman head-on, and the combination has produced some iconic sounds since 1983. And this is one band that’s never fit into a neat little genre. They wore make-up and  sported poufy hair during the Love-era and before, but they were new wave? Nope, not with that guitar sound.  With the Rick Rubin-produced Electric, they were heavy, but not heavy metal –the lyrics were too hippie-ish. Even Sonic Temple, released during the waning days of the hair band era, was too smart to be lumped in with other hard rock albums touted by MTV circa 1990. Fans who’ve stuck with the band for better or worse will find Choice of Weapon as aggressive as Electric and as lyrically thought-provoking as The Cult.

Even younger metal (and punk) fans will appreciate Choice of Weapon’s take-no-prisoners approach.  Against Me and Icarus Line are opening their L.A. show, and the snarling, passionate riffs of Choice of Weapon are just as aggressive as those younger fans are used to. This album has a ramped-up, renovated sound. It’s not hard rock nostalgia for fans who prefer their music in an unaltered state, regardless of the year.

The Cult’s line-up has remained steady since 2007, with John Tempesta on drums, Chris Wyse on bass and touring rhythm guitarist Mike Dimkich. The band’s U.S. tour runs now through June 23^rd, with the final “Hometown” show at the Hollywood Palladium. A European tour follows in July and August.

http://thecult.us/main/

Married to Rock: Rock 'n' Roll Wives Star in New Reality Series

Well, I knew it was bound to happen one day. After years of ignoring reality TV shows (or watching small clips for writing assignments), I have joined the ranks of otherwise intelligent women who turn into cackling hens when discussing the exploits of botoxed reality show housewives.

It all started when my BFF told me I should make an exception to my reality show ban and watch something called  Married to Rock. “You’ll like it,” she said, “it’s about rock stars and their wives.” She then proceeded to tell me she liked the most outrageous, big-boobed wife on the show. “The other wives make fun of her, but she’s got a cute personality,” my friend said.  “Uh-huh,” I responded, visualizing the wife of some third-tier metal guy or a bimbo married to a guy from a bland and allegedly popular group like Nickelback or The Fray. “So who are the rock stars?” I asked, disinterested.  She then managed to remember one of the names – Steve Stevens. “He is Billy Idol’s guitarist,” I said, dumbfounded. Upon further interrogation, I discovered that the rest of the cast consisted of  Duff McKagan (Guns ‘N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) and his wife Susan, an ex-model and swimwear designer, Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction) and his wife Etty, one of  the band’s former backup dancers,  Steve Stevens and his wife Josie (the aforementioned big-boobed wife with a cute personality) and most perplexing to me, Billy Duffy of the Cult and his girlfriend, a VIP hostess named AJ Celi. (I’m a big Cult fan, and I always got the impression Billy was a guy who wanted to keep his offstage life private). None of these couples seemed to fulfill the normal “brain-dead and obnoxious” template for reality show couples. My curiosity piqued, I checked out some highlights.

-Josie has a “love doll” made of herself and sends it to Steve on tour.
-  AJ attempts to cook dinner for Billy (with her Dad’s assistance) and fails miserably.

-  Etty auditions dancers to find her replacement for the Jane’s Addiction tour.

-   The girls take Susan to Trashy Lingerie to get her to dress sluttier.

Not exactly the A-1 primo catfights we’ve come to expect from reality TV housewives. I actually found all the couples to be likable, which doesn’t normally guarantee ratings gold for reality shows. Since the show debuted on E! in early November, the full verdict isn’t in on ratings and viewer commentary yet. However, I rather like the fact that a group of reality show women are portrayed as friends more than “frenemies” to be refreshing.

Married To Rock on E! Entertainment Television

The Cult "Love" Live Tour

The Cult will embark on a tour of the U.S. and Europe later this summer to perform one of their seminal albums in its entirety. Fear not, music purists, I don’t mean Sonic Temple. It’s Love, of course, the 1985 goth/alternative/rock masterpiece.

This is great news on many fronts. It gets the boys away from cover song side projects and back to the Cult’s own legacy. Ian is no longer channeling Jim Morrison in Riders on the Storm (see reprint below), and although Billy may occasionally play a gig with yet another incarnation of Camp Freddy, the boys are recording new songs in L.A. Finally!!


Here’s a clip of the Cult performing “She Sells Sanctuary” from a 1987 BBC telecast.





21st Century Doors-The Story Begins


Last Thursday in Los Angeles, the Rolling Stones played a free
concert at Staples Center. The following night, the Doors played the
Universal Amphitheater. Can you imagine if a rock fan had been
cryogenically frozen in, say, 1970, had been thawed last week, and
looked at the concert listings. "Hey, I told you guys to freeze me
for 33 years, not 6 months!," he might protest. Funny how geezers are
outselling and/or outpublicizing many of their younger counterparts
these days. Latest item - the Doors - er, the 21st century Doors
consisting of original band members Ray Manzerak (keyboards) Robbie
Kreiger (guitar), Cult vocalist Ian Astbury, bass player Angelo
Barbari, drummer Stewart Copeland (or someone else as the drummer,
I'm not sure as of this writing.) A tour featuring all the old
Doors songs... It's not that the remaining band members created stacks of
hit material the last 30 years, so this is it. The tour will be sort
of a tribute to Jim and the Doors music. New material is allegedly in
the works to be written by Jim Carrol, John Doe, et al, and is due
later in the year.* The pesky fact that original drummer John Densmore
filed a lawsuit against the 21st Century Doors hasn't stopped the
project.

A few months ago, VH-1 debuted a show "Graveside Groupies" which
highlighted the escapades of fans who weren't even born when
their idols died. One day last year, I encountered my own version of this
phenomenon. I hung out at Barney's Beanery in L.A. with a bunch
of kids who were either in kindergarten or not even a glimmer in
daddy's eye when Jim Morrison died, relating where exactly Jim
held court in the infamous restaurant and pointing to his old "home",
the Alta Cienega Motel. Yes, I visited Room 32 once, sneaking in when the
motel manager wasn't around. Later, my friend and I surmised that
Jim's ghost was there. (I think they've eliminated Room 32
since then.) Face it, Jim captured all the signposts of rock stardom
perfectly. Drugs, alcohol, poetry, buffoonery, sleazy groupies, a
soulmate (Pam), a celebrated court case for indecent exposure, and
all the other attributes that comprise a legend. And he died in a
bathtub in Paris. Couldya get more romantic than that?

Although tickets for the February 7 Universal Amphitheater gig sold slowly at first, it sold out a few days before the concert. A handful of warm
up mini-shows (the Harley Davidson Fest during the summer and radio
station sponsored shows at the House of Blues) received praise from
the few who attended. Once good word of mouth and the radio station
panzer PR machine hiked into gear, the naysayers didn't have a
chance. It appears that all's well that ends - or begins - well.
The wacky cross-section of fans at the Universal show consisted of old
boomers reliving their halcyon days and kids hyped up on years of
myth. A good time was had by all, replete with stage rushing at the
end. Perhaps people are thirsting for something more than style over
substance MOR pop and recreating. Even three local Doors tribute
bands are advertising more heavily in the L.A. Weekly and similar
papers. So who is still kvetching? Well, as of Feb 9 the Densmore
lawsuit is still a go. Last summer he wrote a piece for The Nation
citing his desire to keep the Doors catalog out of TV commercials and
other non-pure venues. So as always, there's one dissenting
voice. Of course, a band without an occasional quarrel
is not a very good one; a history of fisticuffs is even better.

Now, if one were going to keep a rock legacy intact, i.e. no reunion
tours, no fiddling with the memory, this would be one of 'em. Well,
it's too late now. As long as the project doesn't go on indefinitely
and wear out its welcome**, it shouldn't be construed as a "black
mark" on the Doors legacy. Jim's not here anymore, but the songs are.
And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about.


*Never released
** 2007, Ian replaced by the singer from Fuel. As of June 2009, he's still there.