{"id":88199,"date":"2019-08-16T11:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=88199"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:25:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:25:46","slug":"review-cultdreams-things-that-hurt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-cultdreams-things-that-hurt\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Cultdreams &#8211; Things That Hurt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-88200\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cultdreams-Things-That-Hurt-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cultdreams-Things-That-Hurt-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cultdreams-Things-That-Hurt-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cultdreams-Things-That-Hurt-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cultdreams-Things-That-Hurt-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cultdreams-Things-That-Hurt-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cultdreams-Things-That-Hurt-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cultdreams-Things-That-Hurt.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>In the two years since releasing their debut album,<em> &#8216;Seafoam,&#8217;<\/em> <strong>Cultdreams<\/strong> have gone through a transition. Besides drummer Conor Dawson moving to Belgium, they&#8217;ve adopted a new moniker after abandoning the name Kamikaze Girls. Nevertheless, this new chapter for Dawson and guitarist\/vocalist Lucinda Livingstone is executed with assuredness. On <em>&#8216;Things That Hurt,&#8217;<\/em> the pair subtly evolve from their riot-grrl and punk roots, embracing a whirlwind of reverb guitars and a more considered delivery.<\/p>\n<p>Livingstone&#8217;s growth as a songwriter instantly draws you in. Her reflective, diaristic words serve as the album&#8217;s spine, exploring loss (<em>&#8216;Rest &amp; Reflection&#8217;<\/em>), depression (<em>&#8216;Brain Daze&#8217;<\/em>), ongoing political climate (<em>&#8216;Repent, Regress&#8217;<\/em>) and misogyny. When tied together with a sonically expanding sound pallet, it&#8217;s a striking, admirable set of songs.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Cultdreams - We Never Rest (feat Katie Dvorak and David F. Bello) - (Official Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Rj0woZAYbyE?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Stylistic, their shift towards shoegaze territory pays off. On opening track, <em>&#8216;Born An Underdog,&#8217;<\/em> atmospheric guitars complement Livingstone&#8217;s words, gradually giving way to a cinematic crescendo. Whereas an ominous, melancholy tone ideally fits the thought-provoking words of <em>&#8216;Statement&#8217;. &#8220;I swear if one more man from one more band touches me or one of my friends I\u2019m done,&#8221;<\/em> sings Lucinda.<\/p>\n<p>Although Livingstone more often than not takes centre stage, Dawson is far from a background player. On lively cuts such as <em>&#8216;Not My Generation&#8217;<\/em> and <em>&#8216;Flowers on the Grave,&#8217;<\/em> his drum fills and hits serve as the emphasis to Lucinda&#8217;s angst. While on <em>&#8216;We Never Rest,&#8217;<\/em> they combine both reverb-laden guitars with emotional anguish as TWIABP&#8217;s Katie Dvorak and David F. Bellow offer one of the album&#8217;s standout hooks with its playful melody.<\/p>\n<p>While<em> &#8216;Things That Hurt&#8217;<\/em> is lyrically concise and transparent, songs such as <em>&#8216;Toxins&#8217;<\/em> and <em>&#8216;Don&#8217;t Let Them Tell You Otherwise&#8217;<\/em> have a tendency to dwell into an unwanted lull. Nonetheless, <em>&#8216;Things That Hurt&#8217;<\/em> has allowed the pair to transition into lyrically deeper and stylistic wider territory with conviction, allowing you to continuously absorb these songs.\u00a0Whether you consider it a restart for Livingstone and Dawson is open to discussion.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Things That Hurt&#8217;<\/em> by <strong>Cultdreams<\/strong> is out now on <strong>Big Scary Monsters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cultdreams<\/strong> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/cultdreams.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cultdreamsband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/cultdreamsband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cultdreamsband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/cultdreams.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by S\u00eaan Reid (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SeanReid86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@SeanReid86<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8216;Things That Hurt&#8217; has allowed Cultdreams to transition into lyrically deeper and stylistic wider territory with conviction, allowing you to continuously absorb these songs&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,2884,17007,12398,17449],"class_list":["post-88199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-big-scary-monsters","tag-cultdreams","tag-sean-reid","tag-things-that-hurt"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Cultdreams - Things That Hurt - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;&#039;Things That Hurt&#039; has allowed Cultdreams to transition into lyrically deeper and stylistic wider territory with conviction, allowing you to continuously absorb these songs&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Cultdreams - Things That Hurt - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;&#039;Things That Hurt&#039; 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