New review for Cult With No Name

Cult With No Name - Paper Wraps Rock (Trakwerx) Cult With No Name were formed in London by Erik Stein (lead vocals/piano) and Jon Boux (lead piano/vocals). Sounding strangely like those semi-classical 80s artbands like Japan, The Blue Nile or maybe even later era Talk Talk but without the guitars, the "post-punk electronic balladeers" have released this great late-night debut. From the gentle drone/avant-garde instrumental opener The Morning After The Night Before Last, we are lured into a world of piano balladeering with a twist. With More Of The Same the (electronic) drums set in, making a nice change. Stein's singing style is slightly affected, which is something you either love or hate. Most of the track hover around a slow, reflective pace, so slightly more upbeat tracks like Business Is Good or Product Of are a nice change. The keyboards in Operation Failed are a welcome addition to the sparse instrumentation on this album. In the end, Paper Wraps Rock is a good debut album though it would have benefited from a bit more variation in pace and instrumentation. Personally speaking, I like my albums what these days would probably be considered "short" - say 35 to 40 minutes max. With 55+ minutes, Paper Wraps Rock is in my opinion too long. Some trimming would have made the album more cohesive, but that is minor quibbling. A strong debut, with lots of possibilities for an even better follow up in the future. File under semi-classical lounge-pop with an avant-garde twist (FK)
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