Lollapalooza celebrates its 20th anniversary Aug. 5-7 at Chicago's Lincoln Park. Twenty years? Wow. My young, impressionable self actually attended the second-fourth editions (as well as numerous others over the years) at Riverbend when it was still a traveling festival. The Jesus and Mary Chain! Lush! Sebadoh! Beastie Boys!
Befitting the milestone, this year's lineup offers a smorgasbord of options, though the headliners (Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Muse) seem like pedestrian choices to these ears. Dig a little deeper, though, and there's plenty to get excited about: Explosions in the Sky, Death from Above 1979, Crystal Castles, Atmosphere, Lykke Li, The Kills, My Morning Jacket, The Mountain Goats, Sleigh Bells, Best Coast, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and more, including Cincinnati's own Walk the Moon. —-
Then there's the always-curious sprinkling of reunited nostalgia acts, this year represented by The Cars, Ween and Big Audio Dynamite (Mick Jones' Clash royalties must be running low.)
One of the more intriguing inclusions among the lesser-known Lolla acts is Cults, a crafty, retro-leaning NYC duo (now backed by a full band) that played the MidPoint Music Festival last fall (I missed their reportedly packed set at MOTR) and that have been generating Internet buzz from seemingly before they existed. Founded just over a year ago, Cults — headed by Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin — currently have released but three songs to the world, yet they've found their way to Lincoln Park and a spot in front of thousands of music lovers. Are they ready? I'm not sure, but here they are.
To be fair, the band's debut full-length, Cults, will be released June 7. It was recorded with Shane Stoneback, who has worked with Sleigh Bells and Vampire Weekend.
For those not already smitten with the band, here's what I wrote about them for the MPMF guide:
“This NYC (by way of San Diego) duo’s crafty three-song debut EP, self released earlier this year, is stripped down and atmospheric, no doubt influenced by singer Madeline Follin and instrumentalist Brian Oblivion’s twin love of cinema (they’re both film students). Follin’s fragile, childlike voice haunts simple yet intriguingly textured lo-fi arrangements accented by languid guitar strums, a slowly paced drum machine, piano, xylophone and even a sample of notorious cult leader Jim Jones’ voice. Currently touring behind a full band, Cults is rapidly gathering a cult of its own.”
And here's the first “single from Cults, “You Know What I Mean,” which employs a lot of the elements I describe above.
