The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

When
Lilly Allen all but disappeared a couple of years ago, she cited
disillusionment with the record industry as the reason she needed a break. So
what better way to instil confidence in herself than to set up her own record
company, In the Name of. Sarcasm aside, Ms Allen has actually silenced many a critic with her
first major decision as head of In the Name of. In signing Manhattan duo
Cults, she has uncovered an indie pop act that is causing frenzy with minimal
effort.

As
always, mystery breeds curiosity, and Cults seemingly emerged out of nowhere and released an EP a year ago that gave
nothing away but their music. What resulted was ‘Go Outside’; a catchy reverie
of a tune to which admirers clambered at for more, and has been included on
this eponymous album. It’s always difficult to sum up a sound, but if pushed to, Madeline
Follin‘s and Brian Oblivion’s indie experimentalism takes inspiration from
mostly, but not exclusively, 60s rock, French jazz and folk and Swedish
pop. 

Striking
a balance between the underground and mainstream, the indie and the pop, is a
difficult and usually arbitrary spot to hit, but Cults have come pretty close. The
opening song ‘Abducted’ begins with the simple playful shuffle of a guitar and
a xylophone that bursts into a dramatic angst-ridden chorus: ‘He tore me apart
because I really loved him/ He took my heart away and left me to bleed out.’

Cults mellows down from then on, without
losing any of the drama and fun. As the track that originally put them on the
scene, ‘Go Outside’ is a lazy and gentle song that floats around with a light
bass and glockenspiel mélange, as well as a hummable melody.

‘You
Know What I Mean’ and ‘Most Wanted’ follow on and wash over with a demure and
slow 60s wave befitting of wrist-flicking and finger-clicking. They aren’t the
most apt styles for Follin’s voice, though; and ‘Walk at Night’ suffers
similarly.

Where
Follin’s voice does excel is on the laidback bossanova flair of ‘Never Heal
Myself’ and ‘Never Saw the Point’, which sandwich the heavier drum beat of ‘Oh
My God.’

‘Bumper’
is a carefree return to the 60s sound, and sees greater vocal involvement of
Oblivion. It’s a welcome twist in the shape of the record, and the brief
emergences of his voice throughout the album warrant more limelight.

‘Rave On’
is a suitably grand number to draw the curtains to. It’s probably the closest that
Cults come to in producing an outright pop song, and it doesn’t lose the
charmingly lethargic indie sound.

This
album has a panache and grace that is much more accomplished
than the debutants would have been expected to deliver. This will
inevitably be judged as a sort of indulgent pastiche, but what a way to put
yourself on the map. Cults is an
impressive debut; it’s playful, leisurely and has an alluring innocence about it. There
are so many directions to take from the platform that they’ve given themselves.