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Published on 8/29/08
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Last year, Robert Smith, in a rare display of rock-biz honesty, canceled a scheduled Cure arena trek, citing the need to instead focus on making an upcoming album “to our total satisfaction.” Cut to a year later: The as-yet-untitled album, reportedly a double, still isn’t out in time for the band’s tour, but the mopey mascara fiends just released the first of four digital singles, “The Only One.” The rest will follow on the 13th of every month, leading to the 13th studio album.
If the lack of new material on the shelves is a bit of a bummer, the group’s lean and mean lineup—a four-piece featuring Smith, longtime bassist Simon Gallup, drummer Jason Cooper and returning original guitarist Porl Thompson—makes up for the album’s absence. Smith’s yelp and frizzy, ozone-depleting hair often overshadow the group’s muscle, and for all its jangly ups and metallic downs, pop hits and gothic left turns, the Cure’s always been first and foremost a redoubtable guitar band. Certainly that’s what initially helped them fill giant venues before the mainstream caught on.
Stripped down to its core, the group likely will stress Smith’s quirky and underrated songcraft amid rearranged alt-rock anthems for the depressed and downtrodden. In fact, early set lists have been truly career-spanning, leaving no period of the band’s surprisingly diverse output unrepresented, which should bring a smile to even the most pouty-puss fan. Just don’t expect one on Smith.
