The Cult - Choice Of Weapon

I have a weak spot for these guys. Not because of their music, but because they used to be a Punk band, one that was busking around with Crass and the Clash and the likes back in the days, and even though they chose a different musical path then those 2 aforementioned bands, they'll always get props from me for at least doing that. Always. So my friend (OK my drug dealer) just saw the Cult play a few weeks ago, and he asked me if I heard the new CD. I told him No, but that I saw them play on Jimmy Kimmel a while back and didn't like what I heard or saw. He gave me this CD to listen to and jokingly told me to slag it off on the website. He really wanted to know what I thought about it. So I went home, threw it into the ol' iTunes player, and the first song, Honey From A Knife, is just classic Cult sounding stuff - borderline Glam, heavy Rock N Roll good time arena rock music, perfect for airplay in strip clubs everywhere, and it's not too bad. It's loud, it's guitar driven, the drums are thunderous, the bass is booming and Ian's voice is a bit road weary but still sounding good. I wish the rest of the CD sounded like that opening song though. After that track it's pretty much hit or miss, with the band delving into some boring cock rock balladry land, boring Alternative BS, and the best songs on here, like Amnesia, For The Animals and The Wolf (complete reworking of She Sells Sanctuary) are only good because the riffs for the songs were 'borrowed' from bands like the Foo Fighters, Foghat and I swear to Gawd Fugazi! LOL Oh, what does it matter? The Cult are back and in as good as shape as they've ever been, and you either Love them or Hate them. If you're a fan you'll dig this CD. If you're not, well, you will hear these songs somewhere - either in a TV commercial or a strip club - guaranteed. As a bonus, you get 4 songs from some EP they released last year which pretty much stink, but whatever. Available from Cooking Vinyl Records.

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