Cults

Add Date: June 7 

Artist: Cults 

Album: Cults 

Label: Columbia 

Genre: Pop 

Comments: In case you haven't noticed--which, if you read this blog, you almost certainly have--lots and lots of artists are doing revivalist girl-group pop these days, with varying degrees of success. But the best of these bands aren't really revivalists at all; they're pulling influences from past eras and taking their music in a whole new direction, and that's exactly what Cults do on their excellent eponymous debut LP.

Cults won't get mistakenly put in the oldies bin at your local record store (not that you have one of those anymore). The melodies may come straight out of the '60s, and the layered music might make you think of Phil Spector and '80s shoegaze pop, but these tunes are definitively modern, driven along by bouncing synths and very smooth production. Overall, a very impressive record; start with tracks 2, 7, 1 and 4.