The Cult
Against Me!, The Icarus Line
Fri, June 8, 2012
Doors: 7:00 pm / Show: 8:00 pm
Terminal 5
New York, NY
$29.50 advance / $35 day of show
Tickets
This event is all ages
http://www.terminal5nyc.com/event/110695/
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The Cult
Born out of the ashes of the UK post-punk scene, The Cult evolved to become one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the late 20th century, selling millions of albums, headlining arenas and stadiums around the world, infusing innovative possibilities into the worlds of music and art, and quickly ascending through the ranks of the indie music world to achieve global status. As early as its first American tour in 1984, The Cult became one of the handful of important bands in the U.S. post-modern and hard rock communities. The band was embraced by the lost children of The Doors and Velvet Underground, and a generation that was waking up to the influence of 60s and 70s rock icons like Led Zeppelin, The New York Dolls and David Bowie.
Formed in Brixton, London in 1983 as Death Cult, The Cult's music transformed from punk rock to post-punk, psychedelia, heavy dance music, and transcendental hard rock. As one journalist noted, "Using a few simple riffs and images, The Cult creates an entire environment, one more exciting and stimulating than our own."
And that may just be what separates The Cult from other artists. Imagery is all-important to vocalist/lyricist Ian Astbury, imagery in the music and in the art that accompanies the Cult's projects. Astbury is attracted to words and the image that each word creates. He is engaged by the power of nature, folklore, the concept of destiny, animal power symbols, the survival of the species, spirituality, and certainly the Native American myth and culture, a subject of many of The Cult's songs.
The constant core of The Cult is Astbury and guitarist/composer Billy Duffy. Attitude incarnate, the chemistry between these two vastly different artists - equal-parts genuine affection and palpable tension - remains the source of their long-standing partnership. Duffy grounds Astbury's esoteric side with a hard rock perspective, and there is no doubt that at all times, these two have each other's backs.
Formed in Brixton, London in 1983 as Death Cult, The Cult's music transformed from punk rock to post-punk, psychedelia, heavy dance music, and transcendental hard rock. As one journalist noted, "Using a few simple riffs and images, The Cult creates an entire environment, one more exciting and stimulating than our own."
And that may just be what separates The Cult from other artists. Imagery is all-important to vocalist/lyricist Ian Astbury, imagery in the music and in the art that accompanies the Cult's projects. Astbury is attracted to words and the image that each word creates. He is engaged by the power of nature, folklore, the concept of destiny, animal power symbols, the survival of the species, spirituality, and certainly the Native American myth and culture, a subject of many of The Cult's songs.
The constant core of The Cult is Astbury and guitarist/composer Billy Duffy. Attitude incarnate, the chemistry between these two vastly different artists - equal-parts genuine affection and palpable tension - remains the source of their long-standing partnership. Duffy grounds Astbury's esoteric side with a hard rock perspective, and there is no doubt that at all times, these two have each other's backs.
Against Me!
For Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel, sometimes you have to get the hell, out just to find your way back in. The past 12 years have seen Gabel rise from acoustic folk-punk gunslinger in the dives of Gainesville, Florida to releasing Against Me!’s four searing, blood-smeared slices of scrappy punk. The last of which, 2007’s New Wave, was the major label debut, one that Spin magazine anointed as their Album Of The Year. And while Gainesville was home, Gabel felt the walls closing in when touring for New Wave came to an end. So he split. With his wife, he left behind the “didja-hear-about-so-and-so” insular Gainesville world for the sleepy beach town of St. Augustine, wandering the streets and driving dusty back roads: searching, pining, hoping for inspiration.
He found it in spades. The result is White Crosses, as powerful and as bold a rock record as one can imagine. The band -– Gabel, guitarist James Bowman, bassist Andrew Seward and new drummer George Rebelo – roar like fighter jets screaming over a stadium on the anthemic title-track (with its shout along line about smashing the 4,000 crosses on a local church’s lawn, ones that signify the number of babies aborted each day in the U.S.). Joining that is the escapist fury of “Spanish Moss,” and the short stick of dynamite, “Rapid Decompression.” New Wave eschewed some of the roughness of the band’s earlier efforts, but White Crosses goes even further in filling out the band’s wallop. With its twinkling piano and a glorious whoa-oa chorus, “Because Of The Shame” could be an outtake from Bruce Springsteen’s classic Born To Run. “Ache With Me” is a slow-jam that would make Paul Westerberg blush, while “High Pressure Low” is Billy Idol meets fellow Gainesville native Tom Petty. “This is my Florida record,” says Gabel. “"I spent a lot of time writing this record while driving directionless on forgotten Florida state roads, highly caffeinated, with albums like [Petty's] Full Moon Fever blasting on my stereo."
Producer Butch Vig – who also helmed New Wave – pushed the band to make White Crosses more dynamic while retaining the bruising roundhouse rights they’ve thrown since their 2001 debut Reinventing Axl Rose. "Looking at it now I think [Vig] was a little conservative with New Wave. He didn't want to come in and scare us, says Gabel. "I think it was an unspoken agreement this time around that we were going to push ourselves farther than we ever had before. No direction was off limits. I'm not afraid of melody. I have visions of playing these songs in stadiums, looking out and seeing an ocean of people singing along."
Every band talks about their new record being that giant step forward. It’s one of the most hackneyed clichés in rock & roll. And few bands have the chops to back it up, but Gabel can, due to his growing maturity as a songwriter. Many of his previous lyrics were screed n’ splatter, so acutely in tune with his own and his band’s emotions that they were tough to penetrate. A sign of a great songwriter is one who takes something specific and makes it universal without resorting to tired tricks. On White Crosses, Gabel delivers. “New Wave was very much about my band and the music industry and once I had a little distance from it, I realized that it didn’t connect with some people,” he says. “With White Crosses, there was a real desire to abandon the storyline. I just wanted to wipe the slate clean and not think about any of that.”
Gabel’s writing prowess is most apparent on White Crosses’ centerpiece track, the sparkle-to-a-scream “We’re Breaking Up.” Ostensibly about the demise of Against Me! but it’s couched vaguely enough so that it could be gleaned as a tear-soaked ode to the demise of a romantic relationship. “It’s very much about what we were going through as a band over the past year,” says Gabel. "I was drawing from those experiences but at the same time I didn't want the song to be relatable to by only us. I wanted to open the sentiment up into something more universal."
That passion and verve is something that has never wavered with Against Me! Fueling that is the notion that Gabel hasn’t drawn a line in the sand for just himself, but also for his wife and infant daughter (Seward is also expecting his first child in August). "It gives you a different sense of purpose. It's always going to be important to me to question authority. But I want to do so in a way that is smart and honest to myself." he says. "If we were to come out now with our fifth record, screaming fuck the system! Now we really mean it! I'd feel like I was pandering to a scene I no longer feel a part of. I want to write without limitation. I want to let every thought in my head pour out onto the paper. Take a step back and figure out what I'm trying to say."
He found it in spades. The result is White Crosses, as powerful and as bold a rock record as one can imagine. The band -– Gabel, guitarist James Bowman, bassist Andrew Seward and new drummer George Rebelo – roar like fighter jets screaming over a stadium on the anthemic title-track (with its shout along line about smashing the 4,000 crosses on a local church’s lawn, ones that signify the number of babies aborted each day in the U.S.). Joining that is the escapist fury of “Spanish Moss,” and the short stick of dynamite, “Rapid Decompression.” New Wave eschewed some of the roughness of the band’s earlier efforts, but White Crosses goes even further in filling out the band’s wallop. With its twinkling piano and a glorious whoa-oa chorus, “Because Of The Shame” could be an outtake from Bruce Springsteen’s classic Born To Run. “Ache With Me” is a slow-jam that would make Paul Westerberg blush, while “High Pressure Low” is Billy Idol meets fellow Gainesville native Tom Petty. “This is my Florida record,” says Gabel. “"I spent a lot of time writing this record while driving directionless on forgotten Florida state roads, highly caffeinated, with albums like [Petty's] Full Moon Fever blasting on my stereo."
Producer Butch Vig – who also helmed New Wave – pushed the band to make White Crosses more dynamic while retaining the bruising roundhouse rights they’ve thrown since their 2001 debut Reinventing Axl Rose. "Looking at it now I think [Vig] was a little conservative with New Wave. He didn't want to come in and scare us, says Gabel. "I think it was an unspoken agreement this time around that we were going to push ourselves farther than we ever had before. No direction was off limits. I'm not afraid of melody. I have visions of playing these songs in stadiums, looking out and seeing an ocean of people singing along."
Every band talks about their new record being that giant step forward. It’s one of the most hackneyed clichés in rock & roll. And few bands have the chops to back it up, but Gabel can, due to his growing maturity as a songwriter. Many of his previous lyrics were screed n’ splatter, so acutely in tune with his own and his band’s emotions that they were tough to penetrate. A sign of a great songwriter is one who takes something specific and makes it universal without resorting to tired tricks. On White Crosses, Gabel delivers. “New Wave was very much about my band and the music industry and once I had a little distance from it, I realized that it didn’t connect with some people,” he says. “With White Crosses, there was a real desire to abandon the storyline. I just wanted to wipe the slate clean and not think about any of that.”
Gabel’s writing prowess is most apparent on White Crosses’ centerpiece track, the sparkle-to-a-scream “We’re Breaking Up.” Ostensibly about the demise of Against Me! but it’s couched vaguely enough so that it could be gleaned as a tear-soaked ode to the demise of a romantic relationship. “It’s very much about what we were going through as a band over the past year,” says Gabel. "I was drawing from those experiences but at the same time I didn't want the song to be relatable to by only us. I wanted to open the sentiment up into something more universal."
That passion and verve is something that has never wavered with Against Me! Fueling that is the notion that Gabel hasn’t drawn a line in the sand for just himself, but also for his wife and infant daughter (Seward is also expecting his first child in August). "It gives you a different sense of purpose. It's always going to be important to me to question authority. But I want to do so in a way that is smart and honest to myself." he says. "If we were to come out now with our fifth record, screaming fuck the system! Now we really mean it! I'd feel like I was pandering to a scene I no longer feel a part of. I want to write without limitation. I want to let every thought in my head pour out onto the paper. Take a step back and figure out what I'm trying to say."
The Icarus Line
Pregnant women and people with heart ailments should avoid this ride. Remember back to being a child at one of those super market parking lot carnivals, being strapped against the wall, side by side in a circle... They start spinning you around at speeds that are lethal on the highway, your face pinned to the matted wall behind you... out of the corner of your eye you can see the expressions on your pathetic comrades' faces across the sphere. Then the bottom drops out and your feet have nothing to touch for security and the patheticness turns to pure fear and the smell of vomit rises in the air. Just when you think you're gonna pass out or cry or urinate yourself, the spinning slows to a stop, the floor returns and you're released, smiling, grinning, and stating to your friend, "Wanna go again?"
That's The Icarus Line live. It's powerful, savage, and abusive. It's fucking scary. But there is a joy in being scared. It's a rush, and when you get comfortable with it, you find it's niche, relate to it's void. The Icarus Line's live show is like seeing Satan having a temper tantrum, but knowing he's not mad at you, thus enabling you to enjoy the carnage. Joe Cardamone's thundering vocals can cut through glass smoother than a Ginzu knife, while Aaron North and Alvin DeGuzman's guitars aesthetically antagonize the listener like nobody since Greg Ginn did when Black Flag was hunting people down in the early eighties. Lance Arnao and Jeff Watson are responsible for the punishing rhythm section determined to knock you to the back of the room and onto the floor.
In under two years of existence, Los Angeles, CA's, The Icarus Line have a dozen tours under their belt, covering most of the US, and solidifying a strong following up and down the west coast. After a few 7"s (Buddyhead, Hellcat) and a blood curdling e.p. (New American Dream), the band has found a home on Crank! Records, where they will release their debut full length entitled "Mono", on May 8th 2001. "Mono" was recorded by Alex Newport (at the drive-in, knapsack, godheadsilo, sepultura) and Mark Trombino (drive like jehu, jimmy eat world) and clocks in at 55 minutes; yet it seems to fly right by. If your face is still attached by the end of "Mono", you won't be able to get these songs out of your head. With the ground swell already happening, once kids get this disc in their hands, the rock world will be out of control.
That's The Icarus Line live. It's powerful, savage, and abusive. It's fucking scary. But there is a joy in being scared. It's a rush, and when you get comfortable with it, you find it's niche, relate to it's void. The Icarus Line's live show is like seeing Satan having a temper tantrum, but knowing he's not mad at you, thus enabling you to enjoy the carnage. Joe Cardamone's thundering vocals can cut through glass smoother than a Ginzu knife, while Aaron North and Alvin DeGuzman's guitars aesthetically antagonize the listener like nobody since Greg Ginn did when Black Flag was hunting people down in the early eighties. Lance Arnao and Jeff Watson are responsible for the punishing rhythm section determined to knock you to the back of the room and onto the floor.
In under two years of existence, Los Angeles, CA's, The Icarus Line have a dozen tours under their belt, covering most of the US, and solidifying a strong following up and down the west coast. After a few 7"s (Buddyhead, Hellcat) and a blood curdling e.p. (New American Dream), the band has found a home on Crank! Records, where they will release their debut full length entitled "Mono", on May 8th 2001. "Mono" was recorded by Alex Newport (at the drive-in, knapsack, godheadsilo, sepultura) and Mark Trombino (drive like jehu, jimmy eat world) and clocks in at 55 minutes; yet it seems to fly right by. If your face is still attached by the end of "Mono", you won't be able to get these songs out of your head. With the ground swell already happening, once kids get this disc in their hands, the rock world will be out of control.
