AND THE WORLD AND THE WORLD AND THE WORLD

November 11, 2014 2:24 PM

And now, because it's Tuesday: a stop-motion LEGO animation of The Cult performing their 1985 hit, She Sells Sanctuary.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane (36 comments total)

That is such a good song. Lego rocks.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 2:37 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]

So I'm playing this, and my dearest BF, who is not that many years younger than me, asks what this song is.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 2:44 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]

I believe you mean "ex-BF"
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 2:47 PM on November 11, 2014 [18 favorites]

Rock on, lil' Lego dudes.
posted by Capt. Renault at 3:28 PM on November 11, 2014

The intro is the perfect ringtone and has been mine for about a decade.
posted by humboldt32 at 3:33 PM on November 11, 2014

Needs a "YouTubesday" tag!
posted by selfmedicating at 3:36 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

I saw The Cult on New Year's Eve in '89. They missed the countdown. Still a good show. That is all.
posted by Chuffy at 3:38 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

This is what happens when you go look up the official video, see that it hasn't aged all that well, and continue looking for a better representation of the goth-rock spirit of the band in general and this song in particular. And what conveys that better than LEGO? That's a rhetorical question, obviously. Nothing does.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 3:53 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]

I think I may have had the world's worst date at a Cult show. Good show though. being there with stop-motion Lego people would have been an improvement.
posted by GuyZero at 4:03 PM on November 11, 2014

GuyZero: "I think I may have had the world's worst date at a Cult show. Good show though. being there with stop-motion Lego people would have been an improvement."

Even if you'd have gotten laid *at* *the* *show*, stop motion LEGO people would be an improvement!
posted by notsnot at 4:48 PM on November 11, 2014

not to cast aspersions... but just as a demonstration of what remembering everything forever means:

1985 was 29 years ago. In 1985 The Cult's hit "She Sells Sanctuary" charted at no. 15 in the UK. So, if you were to make a LEGO video in 1985 of the number 15 UK pop hit from 29 years earlier, that is, 1956, you would be making your video to this ditty.
posted by ennui.bz at 4:48 PM on November 11, 2014 [5 favorites]

We want to make fun if this a little because it wasn't just a "hit". This album was released and re-released to those of us who first heard it for nearly 10 years.

I was in high school when it was released (in an ultra modern multifold CD collection with alternate takes, B-sides and remixes) and I was still hearing it in clubs years later when I could legally drink.

These guys were part of an aesthetic that was nurtured and maintained nearly as-is for a decade. An aesthetic that crossed many genre boundaries in a manner that basically created the "hardcore" rock dance club scene.

I mean, it's just pop music, and their outfits (and ours) were silly, but this song was no one hit wonder. This is reflected in the so-bad-it's-good nostalgia we have for it now.
posted by clvrmnky at 5:15 PM on November 11, 2014 [3 favorites]

Got me wondering what the Cult had been up to, since I last checked in on them in 1990-something. After a few hiatuses they are apparently a going thing again and they still bring it. Also, Ian Astbury appears to be transforming into late-period Jim Morrison and still sings like a crazyman yelling at cars.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:20 PM on November 11, 2014 [5 favorites]

So, dude just happened to have some extra stop motion footage of an elf fishing? the eighties were weird enough that I checked the original video to see if that scene was in it. spoilers******





it's not.
posted by OHenryPacey at 5:26 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

I have had a super shitty day and this has redeemed, like, at least 75% fucking percent of it.
posted by Kitteh at 5:34 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]

My only criticism is that you can't animate that weird kick-step that Ian Astbury does in lego.


This is wholly obviated by the simple fact of someone actually doing this.


*waves gauzy banners around*
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:58 PM on November 11, 2014 [4 favorites]

This is awesome. Lego is awesome. Combined, everything is awesome.

I'm sorry, couldn't help myself.
posted by arcticseal at 5:58 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]

I always imagined Ian Astbury as Steven Tyler's jealous little brother.
posted by gottabefunky at 6:04 PM on November 11, 2014

My only criticism is that you can't animate that weird kick-step that Ian Astbury does in lego.


This is wholly obviated by the simple fact of someone actually doing this.


*waves gauzy banners around

After watching this, Shepherd and I may or may not have had a "who does the best Ian Astbury impression" in our kitchen. Loudly.
posted by Kitteh at 6:06 PM on November 11, 2014 [5 favorites]

I was a huge fan of the Cult in the 80's, then I saw them in concert at the Skydome (I think for the Sonic Temple tour) and it was the worst concert I have ever been to. They utterly and completely sucked, and I was devastated. After that experience I no longer went to many big venue concerts which was a good thing ultimately because it led to me to see a lot more local bands. IIRC I saw them again at a small club in Toronto in the late 90's and they were still bad, but I was a lot more drunk. Lego version rocks.
posted by Poldo at 6:27 PM on November 11, 2014

I always imagined Ian Astbury as Steven Tyler's jealous little brother.

Actually, I think he toured as the faux Jim Morrison in Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger's Doors of the 21st Century.
posted by jonp72 at 6:30 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Skydome- we've ruined more bands than the ACC, and that was before Rogers bought us out.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:30 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Stop motion animation: 1897
Lego: 1949
The Internet: 1969
She Sells Sanctuary: 1985

How does it take until 2014 to put these things together? my god humanity is a bunch of slackers
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 6:58 PM on November 11, 2014 [6 favorites]

Poldo, the clip I linked to features the band performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live a few years back. They sound good. Astbury has a voice that's so odd it's hard to say if he's in fine form or having an off night, but the band around him is really crackling for a song they'd probably played about 1500 times since 1985.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:59 PM on November 11, 2014

I have had a super shitty day and this has redeemed, like, at least 75% fucking percent of it

Word. Kitteh. Me too.

And clvermnky is spot on about The Cult. They were one of those bands that seemed to appeal equally to disparate scenes; Goths, Metalheads, Jocks . . .
posted by KingEdRa at 7:05 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Southern Death Cult --> Death Cult --> The Cult. They're like the Bob Newhart of post-punk bands.

I'm not the hugest fan (of any incarnation) but this song brings back a really fun and care-free time in my life so it's always nice to hear. Plus Lego.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:05 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

From a technical standpoint, I can't think of another LEGO stop-motion video where they switch out the actual Minifig heads to accomplish the lip-syncing.
Very impressive and effective!
posted by LEGO Damashii at 9:13 PM on November 11, 2014

The gap in Ian's teeth. Perfection!
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 10:03 PM on November 11, 2014

All the girls in this here bar
Will treat you like you're a star.
Don't get excited it's just luck
They'll ignore you if the guy from The Cult shows up.

Cause he's a long haired guy from England.
Long haired guy from United Kingdom.
Long haired guy from England.
Long haired guy from United Kingdom.

or that guy from Midnight Oil... except he's bald... and he's from Australia... but it's sort of the same concept...
posted by Naberius at 10:31 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Stop motion animation: 1897
Lego: 1949
The Internet: 1969
She Sells Sanctuary: 1985

How does it take until 2014 to put these things together? my god humanity is a bunch of slackers

That's nothing - - the fifth element doesn't arrive until 2263.
posted by fairmettle at 3:06 AM on November 12, 2014

FIRE WOMAN! DO FIRE WOMAN!
posted by vrakatar at 7:18 AM on November 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

This is great, but it never ceases to amaze me how much work goes into stop motion--how many times did he have to swap out the lead singer's head over the course of animating?
posted by Green Winnebago at 9:20 AM on November 12, 2014

They were one of those bands that seemed to appeal equally to disparate scenes; Goths, Metalheads, Jocks . . .

I was remarking to Shepherd that you could see the same Cult video on Headbanger's Ball as you could 120 Minutes. And yeah, they appealed to all different social groups when I was in high school. I also remember feeling relieved for Ian Astbury when he finally got to front the Doors; I was like, "FINALLY HIS LIFETIME GOAL ACHIEVED."
posted by Kitteh at 9:36 AM on November 12, 2014 [2 favorites]

I have Ian Astbury stories I probably shouldn't tell here, but corner me at a meetup sometime, because seriously, you guys. Seriously.

Ahem.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:28 AM on November 12, 2014

I saw them around 87' I think. It was right after the Electric album came out. Apparently a lot of their "fans" did not hear the new material and were pretty shocked when they performed the new material. One disappointed fellow shouted out between songs "What happened to you guys?" and Ian responded coolly "We got good." I suppose the tip off to their new direction should have been their opening band. I wonder whatever happened to those Guns 'N Roses guys.
posted by cazoo at 2:17 PM on November 12, 2014

I was remarking to Shepherd that you could see the same Cult video on Headbanger's Ball as you could 120 Minutes. And yeah, they appealed to all different social groups when I was in high school.

This album has saved a couple of parties when I was in high school for this reason. I think it's especially the case if you live in an area where your location options are limited. You will be getting wasted with people you don't even talk to outside this setting, and having something you can play for at least 30 minutes without someone hitting the stereo is helpful.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 3:26 PM on November 12, 2014 [2 favorites]