The Cult, "Electric"

CJ activates the love removal machine

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May 18, 2022

CJ’s Pitch:

It’s all about threading the needle here on Newbury St. We’ve got three guys with very different tastes in music and obnoxiously strong opinions about what they like and don’t like. And since getting an album into our hallowed halls requires a unanimous decision, choosing what to pitch is just as important as choosing the words to pitch it. You have to consider questions like:

Is it too heavy for Ken?

Or too angry for Mitch?

Or too jammy for me?

Your favorite album from your favorite band may not stand a chance with at least one of us. But there may be another album from that same band that appeals just enough to that week’s Russian judge to get in. Sure, we often pitch where our passions lie, politics be damned. (Which explains Mitch’s endless flogging of Phil Collins.) But sometimes the victory is getting the band enshrined, if not your record of choice.

It’s a tightrope walk, folks.

And, oh boy, am I venturing out onto the high wire with this week’s offering from The Cult.

I love The Cult in all their different iterations. In the six-year period between 1983 and 1989, they put out a goth/punk album, an alternative album, a rock album and a hair metal album. In that same timeframe, they toured with everyone from The Jesus and Mary Chain and Sonic Youth to Echo & The Bunnymen and Nick Cave to The Bangles and Simple Minds to Guns n’ Roses and The Flaming Lips (Yes Mitch, your Flaming Lips.)

I personally saw them open for Metallica in the summer 1989 during their metal period. The goth holdovers who came to support them that day were sorely disappointed. Bless their poor tortured souls.

So which album do I enter into the Thunderdome? Straight away, the goth record is out. Ken only tolerates mascara if it highlights the dreamy eyes of Billie Joe Armstrong. The metal album is a non-starter as well. It’ll be a chilly day in Hades before Mitch greenlights another headbanger.

The alternative album (Love) does feature my two favorite Cult songs—“Rain” and “She Sells Sanctuary”. With the right high school friend group, Love would be a slam-dunk. But those high school friends weren’t listening to Jackson Browne and the Dead in the lower parking lot instead of attending Algebra class.

That leaves us with the platinum-selling Cult album from 1987, Electric.

After Love, the band decided to leave the coffeehouses and college radio stations behind in favor of a harder-edged sound. Who better to produce this effort than rock whisperer Rick Rubin, who had infused power chords into the music of rap acts like Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys and melodies into the metal mayhem of Slayer and Danzig. At the time, Rubin was like King Midas. To appropriate a certain SNL skit, Rubin put his pants on one leg at a time like everybody else. Except once his pants were on, he made gold records.

The Cult may not have been superstars, but they did have something that all superstars possess—a signature sound. That sound was driven by the clean, powerful vocals of Ian Astbury and the crunchy, catchy riffs emanating from Billy Duffy’s guitar. Like the Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson (he opened, hoping to curry favor with a certain redhead), Duffy doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves. You know within the first few notes that you’re listening to a Cult song. Just like you know a Crowes’ song right from the jump.

The Cult’s signature sound is fully realized and in full effect on prime cuts like “Wild Flower”, “Lil’ Devil” and the big banger “Love Removal Machine.” Lesser-known tracks like “Electric Ocean”, “King Country Man” and “Outlaw” speak to the band’s Led Zeppelin influences. And boogie tracks “Bad Fun” and “Memphis Hip Shake” are joyful grinds that play Astbury and Duffy off one another.

If you want proof that The Cult’s sound is uniquely their own, listen to the horrendous cover of Dad Rock staple “Born to be Wild”. It doesn’t work because you can’t convert The Cult into Steppenwolf, no matter what the current exchange rate is.

The Cult earned their success because they weren’t afraid to try new things and move in new directions. I think we should apply that same attitude when considering Electric for the Newbury St. Collection. After all, you can’t sew up a rock ‘n’ outfit without threading a needle first.

Ken’s Response:

After several listens of Electric, I’m sorry to say that I can’t find the needle, the thread, or any semblance of couture or fashion. In fact, I’m going to need a full-body thimble for protection if I’m forced to listen to this travesty again.

This isn’t about personal taste either, if it was I would have just written the cliche “Shit Sandwich” and left the rest of the page blank. This is about subpar musicianship, vocals of which the best compliment I can give is “not terrible”, and lyrics that have a lot of words but say virtually nothing. It’s about Rick Rubin making a mistake by accepting this renovation project.

Sometimes there’s a reason a band perennially opens for larger acts. Sometimes there’s a reason a band underperforms at the record store. Sometimes there’s a reason that a band has to reinvent itself several times over the course of a decade. They just don’t have “it”. There are a million college bands out there trying to become the next big rock band. There are even more singers trying to become Adele, Lady Gaga or Ariana Grande, but they just don’t have what it takes to get to the next level.

Congratulations to The Cult for being able to make a living out of making music. That, in and of itself, is an incredible accomplishment. They should all hang their respective hats up at night knowing that they made it farther than so many of their peers.

But if you want to get to Newbury St., you need a stronger game than “Peace Dog”, “Aphrodisiac Jacket” and “King Contrary Man” give us.

Pitch Unsuccessful (Born to be mild)

Mitch’s Response:

We used to be so obsessed with authenticity in rock and roll. The worst charge that you could level against any band was that they were “sell outs”. It was the last remnant of the punk/DIY era, and most rock fans embraced the concept without question.

The definition of “sell out” was pretty vague, as 99% of bands on the radio and in the record stores had obviously “sold out” to the record companies in order to get their music on the radio or in the record stores, but what being a “sell out” really meant was that a band gave off the vibe that they were trying too hard to be popular by chasing current trends. Some bands - like The Rolling Stones - were so good at trend-chasing that they were able to transcend the charges. Other bands - like KISS - made being "sell outs" part of their schtick. But for most bands, changing styles every album reeked of desperation for a hit.

And The Cult’s Electric sure does stink.

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The Black Crowes* are actually a perfect comp for The Cult, as both bands generally existed in that weird mini-era between hair metal and grunge, and both bands have an obvious Rick Rubin connection.

*[Please note that when I reference “The Black Crowes” I mean the world’s greatest rock and roll band from 1992-1997 featuring Chris, Rich, Steve, Marc, Johnny & Ed, not the embarrassing Menudo-esque corporate-owned travesty that is currently shitting up a state fair near you. I guess I still do care about authenticity in rock and roll.]

You see, when the Crowes hit the scene, Rick Rubin wanted them to be a country-fried novelty band, but they wisely told him to fuck off, they stuck to the throwback style of music they loved, and they became popular despite prevailing music trends.

The Cult, as CJ pointed out in his pitch, took the other route and went trend-chasing with Rick Rubin (that’s actually a great idea for my next podcast).

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Of course, the real problem with Electric is that the songs are universally terrible. “Love Removal Machine” is almost a good song, so I get why that was almost a hit. This album is a deeply unpleasant listening experience, filled with shit metal guitar and a singer that makes me wish for the sweet embrace of death. I get that Ian Astbury is technically a powerful singer, but that’s like saying that the mugger that stabbed me had a very clean stroke with his switchblade.

Pitch Unsuccessful (I thought cults were supposed to have charismatic leaders?)

CJ’s pitch was not successful and The Cults’ Electric has been unplugged.

EONS is the peoples temple, so we invite you to join the family and head to the comments section and let us know if The Cult’s Electric takes you to heaven’s gate or makes you want to run away to some wild, wild country.

Exile on Newbury St.

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