Cultdreams – Things That Hurt

Formed in 2014 and previously known as Kamikaze Girls are Cultdreams, who in 2017 released their debut record Seafoam which received widespread praise for depicting life with depression and PTSD, whilst shining a light on harmful behaviour, sexual harassment and every-day misogyny in society. 

Nearly two years away from the studio to tour Seafoam in the UK/EU and across the Atlantic. Guitarist/vocalist Lucinda Livingstone and drummer Conor Dawson release a long-awaited second album, Things That Hurt via Big Scary Monsters.

Listening to this record consists of punk poetry, as Lucinda Livingstone’s vocals penetrate airwaves with “We hate because we live too much”. As the track “Not My Generation” continues, Livingstone’s adrenaline-fueled vocals talk of her mental state while Dawson’s drums do not hide in the background.

The process of this record comes from deep, poignant and hindsight, as Livingstone explains “Over the last year I revisited the way I have dealt with loss and grief during my life so far. I wrote a lot of lyrics about that at the time, which I then came to use for those songs.”

Lyrically “Brain Daze” is one of the best as it informs the listener of life with depression, struggling to get out of bed and describes being in a day of apathy, which many can identify with. Cultdreams are tapping into the world of suffering from mental health and announcing to listeners with their open-hearted words that the listener, who may suffer is not on their own.

Stand out the tune “Repent, Regress” has beautiful dark distorted riffs as Dawson’s thunderous drums match Livingstone’s venom, as she spits out “Repent Regress…” it gets me to hit the replay button.

Things That Hurt is an honest, no holds barred record where the vocals are hard-hitting as the instruments can take a back seat to the lyrics. My first time hearing the creation of Lucinda Livingstone and Conor Dawson and It will be interesting to see and hear where they will be heading next as the world has much to scream about.

Mark Wincott

October 1, 2019

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