CULT FIGURES
‘DERITEND’
Gare Du Nord Records
8.5/10
Birmingham based original Punky misfits Cult Figures return with their second full-length release, the disarmingly catchy ‘Deritend’. Kicking off this herbs ‘n’ spices release is the finger-lickin’ ‘Chicken Bones’, a pulsating late night pavement pizza and stray dog slapping observation of top-quality second wave new wave. Following on from ‘Chicken Bones’ is a lighter more sugary though no less prickly ‘Donut Life’ before a Rocket-Esque riff kicks the shins of familiarity on the eclectic brilliance that awaits on an addictive ‘Lights Out’. The tempo takes a sharp atmospheric left on the hazy eighties ‘Exile’ while ‘The Omen’ builds to a semi-marching crescendo as the suburban lyrics get delivered with a forceful maturity. Great tunes can and do deliver desperate personal, political and sociological messages with an arm-waving, voice raising anti-celebration anthems and the Cult Figures have this gift in spades.
A land levelling ‘Silver Blades’ is proceeded by the bin lid crash bang wallop of ‘White Noise’ before four decades of Rock ‘N’ Roll, New Wave, Punk, Indie and Pop get blended on a roaring ‘Julie-Anne’. The final trio consists of the reflective spoken word ‘Concrete And Glass’, ‘Camping In The Rain’ and the indie-fuzz rocker ‘Privilege’. Cult Figures deliver their own unique sound that incorporates all the genre’s that have really mattered since 1977. ‘Deritend’ is a delicately punchy reflection of all that has come before during and after their original formation back in those anarchic Silver Jubilee days.
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