Kids In Cults

"Stay Near Me" performed LIVE @ The Tote - MELBOURNE:



CD REVIEW of our previous EP "On The Radio"

DB MAGAZINE

ISSUE 401

(DEC 20 - JAN 2)



KIDS IN CULTS - 'On The Radio'

(Independent)



Now let me make this very clear at the outset. I love this CD for reasons that shall become readily apparent. Now, read on.



'On The Radio' is a six-track EP from Melbourne's Kids In Cults. Formed 18 months ago, the band consists of Glenn Maynard (guitar and vocals), Leigh Stone (bass and vocals) and drummer Mark Grondman, all former members of various '90s bands such as Pollyanna and Violetine.



The band's website describes their sound as "Revved up '80s guitar rock" and that is pretty much spot on. Certainly, the spirit of bands like Sunnyboys, Hitmen and Died Pretty lives on in Kids In Cults. Not surprisingly, given the band members backgrounds, there are also elements of early '90s bands such as Pollyanna (circa 'Long Player'), Knievel and You Am I.



'On The Radio' is filled with wry and bittersweet tales of love, yearning and betrayal and there is not one dud among them. My personal favourites are the title track which, in a perfect world, would be on high rotation on Triple J and the brooding Guy Like Me, which is reminiscent of Nick Cave's The Ship Song.



Elsewhere, So Long has a brilliant chorus that somehow reminds me just a bit of the Soul Asylum track Somebody To Shove. Touch Me Don't Fuck Me is a raw, vitriolic rock'n'roll track, apparently about an actual, shall we say, interesting experience that one of the band members had with an older woman. Remember is a more melancholy song about a relationship that seems to have run its course.



In closing, allow me to reiterate - I love this CD. So should you, your friends and your family. So instead of jocks and socks, why not give the gift of music this Christmas and fill those stockings with 'On The Radio'?



James McKenzie (db magazine S.A)