Song of the Day #786: Cults

Remember Cults?
Back in Collapse Board’s glory days of 2011, we ran 10 reviews of Cult’s debut album. It didn’t go down very well with a number of people who thought running 10 reviews of the same album wasn’t big or clever, just stupid.
I don’t think the aim of running 10 reviews of the same album was ever meant to be big or clever. It was just supposed to be an interesting and fun way of covering a much-hyped new band. It showed that there were different ways that you could put together an album review. Some of the 10 reviewers liked it, some didn’t. Perhaps the most important lesson from running 10 reviews of the same album is that it highlighted that people have differing tastes, and that, despite the now instantaneous availability of music, tastemakers can still play an important role.
When it came to Cults’ second album, 2013’s Static, we only published two reviews. Funny how fortunes change in only a couple of years, more for us than them, as the band went on to do great things.
If you’d forgotten all about Cults in the last decade or so, it’s truly been your loss. They’ve just quietly gone about their business of being the best pop band that’s been missing in your life. Their third album, Offering was the best album of 2017 that you probably haven’t yet heard but probably should. Their fourth album, Host, was my favourite album of 2020. In-between they’ve released separate B-side and remix albums for for both albums to show off just how good they are and how versatile their songs are.
Album number five is just around the corner, with To the Ghosts out on 26 July. If you’d forget all about Cults since those halcyon days of 2011, it’s time to reconnect and discover what you’ve been missing out on.