I know this came out a while ago but, for reasons way too complex to explain here, I’m only just getting round to a review now. Better late than never, I guess.
The thing I love about Cliche Cult is that I can depend on them, their releases always have something new, always impress.
‘Race Against The Time’ is a big, no I should say huge, indie song. And when I say huge, I mean arena huge. It does that achingly emotional verse, big chorus thing to perfection. Need I say more? Well, yes I do. It comes with great words, very much a Cliche Cult trademark. It also comes with some frankly jaw-droppingly good guitar.
The band, as you might know, like to surprise, and that comes with ‘Sweet Therapy’. This starts with a line that comes straight out of some spooky post-punk song, a sound that sits somewhere between that Echo and The Bunnymen sound they do and something that weirdly reminds me of New Model Army, and then seamlessly becomes, what I’m going to call, muscular indie rock. But, not only is this brilliant musically, but lyrically it’s chillingly good. It explores, if I’ve interpreted the words correctly, a journey through mental health issues and therapy. And it does this in a personal and deeply meaningful way.
Look I’ve said more about ‘Sweet Therapy’ than what the band have marked as the lead song ‘Race Against The Time’ not because it’s better. It’s just that ‘Race Against…’ is simply a fantastic song, and I don’t need to say more about it than that really. Whereas ‘Sweet Therapy’ is a more complex song both musically and lyrically.
This is a frankly wonderful pair of songs that, far from marking the band out as promising (honest, this is what their promo email says), marks them out as a band that have reached where their early singles indicated, and are charging up the next step.
This is a must listen, without question. And that’s an order.
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