Anyone who’s anyone in the UK’s thriving alternative underground is sure to be aware of Death Cult Electric and their wild, fuzzed-out live shows with appearances alongside acts like Pulled Apart By Horses, Coilguns, Mclusky and Haggard Cat. Now, on their debut double LP Cult Classic (Vol I) & (Vol II), the Welsh quartet transfer their wild stage show to an equally energetic hour of recorded material.
Drawing inspiration from British icons as far apart as Future Of The Left and Dr Who’s Daleks, Death Cult Electric blast through their fifteen tracks of ferocious, noisy alt-rock with the speed and weight of a Lancaster Bomber. The album’s first track ‘Deleter’ is a fantastic introduction to the South Wales foursome, throwing together buzzing guitar riffs with frantic, robotic vocals into a sweaty, lively fuzz-punk cacophony. Frontman Steffan Pringle (who eagle-eyed fans may recognise from his extensive production CV or his work with iconic Cardiff rockers Estrons) is a born frontman, confidently delivering witty lyrics and cutting, distorted guitar riffs.
As the album unfolds Death Cult Electric refuse to let the audience take a breath or stop to contemplate the assault of noise, instead throwing hit after fuzzy hit in their direction. The tracks ‘Wishy Washy’, ‘Moolah’, ‘We Are Not Bees’ and ‘Snakes And Their Children’ fly past with such glorious speed and power that the listener barely has a moment to consider the finer points of the distorted chaos. While Death Cult Electric have clearly put a lot of through into the production and humorous lyrics of their debut album the intricacies aren’t what make Cult Classic worth listening to, the broad strokes and unstoppable energy make this record a powerful sledgehammer rather than a delicate scalpel.
“Drawing inspiration from British icons as far apart as Future Of The Left and Dr Who’s Daleks, Death Cult Electric blast through their fifteen tracks of ferocious, noisy alt-rock with the speed and weight of a Lancaster Bomber.”
While many of the songs on Cult Classic are collected from the band’s seven years of recorded material, the album also features a few surprises that have never made it to streaming services. Tracks like ‘In Infrared’, with its stomping beat and more measured pace, or ‘I’m So Cool’, with its awkward, android-like vocal delivery and acrobatic guitar riffs clash up against the minute-long fuzz-punk track ‘A.I. Duplicate!’ and the slow-burning, Era Vulgaris-era Queens Of The Stone Age inspired, five and a half minute closer ‘Burn Bubblegum’. Despite Cult Classic already containing plenty of fan favourite riffs and choruses, the album also contains enough exciting new material to get those who’ve been following Death Cult Electric since day one invested.
Although Death Cult Electric aren’t a household name in the alternative scene quite yet their debut LP sets them up to be underground stars. Bringing together new songs and old, Cult Classic is the perfect introduction to Death Cult Electric’s fuzzy, dystopian alt-rock noise.