Rival Cults
Hometown: Santa Barbara, CA
Album: Indoctrination, out April 21st via Dune Altar
RIYL: Mission Statements. Schrödinger’s Goth. Hope.
I’m going through a series of office reorganizations (i.e., layoffs in corporate speak) and a refocusing of the company’s vision. Mission statements are often the bane of my existence because they are often stifle innovation and serve as a way to demotivate rather than their intended purpose. Rival Cults don’t have that issue at all, as their aspirations are clear, concise, and punk as fuck, “We all want more Rock in our Goth, plain and simple,” vocalist Cole Barrington says. One listen to their phenomenal debut, and you’ll quickly become indoctrinated to their style. Think every great classic goth rock album from yesteryear with the guitar flair and oomph of Tribulation. In that liminal space between rock and metal, Rival Cults fly pretty close to the studded belted Sun, but it’s Barrington’s truly pitch-perfect goth crooning that keeps this closer to rock and punk than metal (who cares, nerd; it’s great). That mission statement bleeds out into more of their ethos, as he shares:
“I wanted and still want Rival Cults to be that band people listen to gain emotional and spiritual strength. After going to rehab, I knew that this band could be so much more than an edgy rock group. These songs could be lifelines to people struggling with addiction, anxiety, depression, suicide, and abuse of all kinds. I feel, now more than ever, the need to offset all the pessimism and nihilism that seems to permeate underground punk, goth, and metal scenes. Grown-ups singing songs about how the world is unfair and cruel just doesn’t do it for me anymore and honestly it doesn’t help anything. Yes the world is cruel, but it’s also beautiful and if it’s too much to handle, maybe you need to listen to our record.”
Photo courtesy of Rival Cults.
