1261. The Cult / Dreamtime. 1984. 3.5/5

Back in 1981, lead vocalist Ian Astbury formed a band with the name Southern Death Cult. Astbury had considered himself a punk when that scene breezed through the late 1970’s but then admitted in an interview with NME in October 1982 that “I was in the army for a while, and then I came out, and I was a punk, and I thought, right, fucking anarchy, this is it for the rest of my life. This has got to last forever. And then when it died down, I just sat there, and I thought... what the fuck was all that about?”. That interview, which profiled the band heavily and saw a bright future ahead, also announced that their first album was to be released shortly, titled “Fatman in the Moya”. Instead, a single release came, before the band played their final gig in February the following year.
Two months later, Astbury teamed up with a guitarist by the name of Billy Duffy. Duffy had played in bands such as the Nosebleeds (along with Morrissey, later of the Smiths), Lonesome No More and then Theatre of Hate. Also recruited were bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Ray Mondo, both from the post-punk band, Ritual. They called themselves Death Cult, a short trip from that first band name, touring mainland Europe and releasing the “Death Cult” self-titled EP. Nigel Preston replaced Mondo on drums, and further touring continued. In January 1984, prior to appearing on a music TV program, the band decided to change their name to simply “The Cult”, believing it would create broader appeal.
The band had been writing prolifically since they had come together and had many songs ready for their eventual journey into the studio in April 1984 to record their debut album.
The album was originally being produced by Joe Julian, but after recording the drums, the band decided to replace him, and John Brand was brought in to take over the role. Despite this, Duffy has said in interviews that the drum tracks used on the album were those produced by Julian, as Preston’s drumming and availability had become too unreliable by that time. And so became The Cult’s debut album, titled “Dreamtime”.

“Dreamtime” has an interesting premise, both in the subject matter of the lyrics and the style of music the band debut on this first album. There is a mysticism and a tribalism about the songs, drawn from such widely varied and yet closely intertwined subject matter. “Horse Nation” talks about “The whole world is coming, from the four directions, and I scream and shout”, and this actually describes not only the horses of the song, but the four members of the band in this opening salvo, the guitar, bass, drums and vocals all seeming to come from four different directions to meet in the middle. Stylistically it is an interesting approach. showing Astbury's intense interest in Native American issues, with the lyrics taken almost verbatim from the book ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’. “Spiritwalker” is the first single from the album, invoking the new wave movement of the era, with Astbury’s vocals and Stewart’s bass the distinctive elements of the track, and visualising travelling the spirit world through trance. “83rd Dream” is Astbury’s reflection on mortality and how fast life can pass you by; and is followed by “Butterflies” which also touches on the same themes, of the weight of introspection on one's life choices through the Hopi ceremonial butterfly dance. The song that closes out Side A of the album, “Go West (Crazy Spinning Wheels)” is the second single released, and the style of the track evokes that kind of vibes. It once again brings on board the new wave feels of the time, in an uptempo song boosted by Astbury’s more party boy vocals on show and an almost Andy Summers like guitar strum from Duffy. It’s a good finish to the first half of the album.
Onto the second side of the album, and while “Gimmick” is not the first song on this album that channels The Cure in its style, it is the most pronounced. It has a great atmosphere, and Astbury’s more haunting vocal line does bring a bit of Robert Smith about it. “A Flower in the Desert” moves back into the mystical and profound, with lines such as “I'm alive, see my rivers flowing, don't wanna be like you” and “Step a little closer, I wonder if you can remember me in this way”. Then we are back into the new wave upbeat tempo and fun with “Dreamtime”, which is said to be inspired by the mythology of the Australian Aborigines and First Nations people. Lyrically though, given the title of the song is repeated a great number of times – 38 times, and yes, I counted – I'm not sure it invokes a lot of that.
More repeated lyrics follow with “Rider in the Snow”, while “Bad Medicine Waltz” channels The Smiths in its slow mournful style to finish off the album.
While the album has utilised a lot of influences to draw upon its subject matter, such as the Aboriginal culture from the title and the native Americans throughout, an argument can be made that lyrically Astbury and Duffy didn’t explore these ideas fully, instead, keeping what was sung to a minimum of words but poured out over an extended time. Musically there is a similarity to other bands of the era, which, when listening from the future, can be a bit disconcerting but not unwelcome.

I didn’t catch on to The Cult until their “Sonic Temple” some five years after this release, and then for several years after that only went back to find “Electric” and “Love” as their counterparts. So it was not until the early 2000’s that I first discovered “Dreamtime”, around the same time that “Beyond Good and Evil” was released. There were rumours of an Australian tour, and I decided that I should chase down the only album of The Cult that I didn’t know. What I found was something that was familiar, but perhaps incomplete. I don’t think it is unfair to suggest that at this point of their career, the band has not yet found its own sound. There are sections on “Dreamtime” where you can hear the band that they would eventually become, but in other places there are other influences.
Listening to this album again over the past couple of weeks, I can still hear those overtones of bands such as The Cure and The Smiths and even U2, and definitely an expression of the new wave scene that came with the era that the band formed and began their journey. And none of that is unpleasant because I appreciate and enjoy those things. What The Cult do here though is a form of new wave without synth or sax, where they have stuck true to the post-punk and goth rock that they were looking to draw their music from – it's just that it isn’t quite that defined yet.
The journey of The Cult from this album to what was my entry point on “Sonic Temple” is an interesting one, one that has its defined changes on each album. And each is an important part into the eventual formation of The Cult’s absolute style and significance. And while I have wondered over the years if I would feel differently about this album if it had been the first that I had heard of the band, I don’t think it would have changed for me significantly. I still enjoy this album to this day. As a first act to what was to come it is a good start. The boom came nine months later with the release of the single “She Sells Sanctuary”, and their sophomore album “Love”. But that’s a story for another episode.