thePULSEBy Steve Henricksen
Venerable rock band The Cult will hit the pavement hard this summer with the first leg of its 2012 North American tour. For most of the dates, The Cult will be supported by Against Me! and The Icarus Line.
Log onto thecult.us/main/shows/ for all details and to purchase tickets.
“This is going to be a very intense, high-energy tour,” said The Cult’s vocalist, Ian Astbury. “We are really looking forward to the time we spend on stage connected to our music and our audience. That’s our purpose.”
The Cult ~ Astbury, Billy Duffy (called one of the post-punk era’s greatest guitarists), Chris Wyse on bass, drummer John Tempesta, and touring member Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar ~ is touring in support of Choice of Weapon, the band’s first new studio album in five years, due out May 22 (and reviewed in our upcoming June issue of Pulse!). Featuring The Cult’s signature sounds of Astbury’s vocals and Duffy’s guitar, the album was produced by Chris Goss (Queens of the Stone Age, U.N.K.L.E., Masters of Reality) and Bob Rock (Metallica, Bush, The Cult’s Sonic Temple), recorded in New York City, Los Angeles, the California high desert and the band’s Witch Mountain studio between July and December 2011, and written by Astbury and Duffy.
Early praise for the record came from the Toronto Star’s Ben Rayner who wrote that Choice of Weapon “…feels like the work of the cosmically inclined outfit responsible for such durable records as 1985’s Love, 1987’s Electric and 1989’s smash hit Sonic Temple than anything the band has done in years.” And, from Rock’s Back Pages: “…a searing blend of cleanly distorted guitars, pummeling rhythm, and lyrics that channel an inner landscape reflective of a personal journey and descriptive of the state of the world, simultaneously.”
“When we were writing and recording Choice of Weapon,” shared Astbury, “we had no agenda, there was no particular destination, no place to be, and no chart position to aim for. We took our time, we went in, we grabbed the jewels, and stayed focused on keeping everything as fresh and as raw as possible. The new songs are a sharpened and heightened extension of everything we have ever done.”
Choice of Weapon reflects the survival in today’s volatile world where the sense of entitlement is growing, where we are constantly bombarded by “ones and zeros,” and where the “have-nots” increase on a daily basis. The album poses the questions “How do we survive and still keep our integrity and humanity? What weapons do we choose to insure a sane future for ourselves and our children, and not de-evolve into a Hunger Games scenario?”
On these North American dates, The Cult will play many of their classics as well as introduce fans to some of their new songs, including “Lucifer” ~ not a song about the devil, but a reference to the morning star, the idea of a journey through darkness and decadence to find the road to wisdom, “Honey From a Knife” ~ based on the Buddhist teaching about the seductiveness of addiction, and “For The Animals,” the first official single from Choice of Weapon. “For The Animals” asserts the rising tensions, rage and hostility of the growing sector of disenfranchised youth in our society.
“Again, we find ourselves with our backs against the wall,” Astbury continued, “and we like that, we like being outside the perimeter. We’re the long shot, so place your bet on us.”
Catch The Cult live on these dates:?June 5: Boston, MA @ House of Blues?June 9: Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
