Whichever I choose, it amounts to the same
June 8, 2018 7:19 PM Subscribe
"For someone who once sang “It doesn’t matter if we all die”, Robert Smith has an endearing relish for the bathetic comedy of life."
Bourdain, I should imagine.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:39 PM on June 8, 2018
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:39 PM on June 8, 2018
Don't. Just. Why. Jesus.
posted by symbioid at 7:54 PM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by symbioid at 7:54 PM on June 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
'I was very optimistic when I was young – now I'm the opposite'
Fucking brutal. I guess that means no more "Friday I'm in Love"s... "Gone...", "Love Cats", etc etc etc...
posted by symbioid at 7:56 PM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
Fucking brutal. I guess that means no more "Friday I'm in Love"s... "Gone...", "Love Cats", etc etc etc...
posted by symbioid at 7:56 PM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
He's too young to qualify, but I at this time I would like to underscore my desperate pony request anyway.
posted by rokusan at 7:59 PM on June 8, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by rokusan at 7:59 PM on June 8, 2018 [6 favorites]
Aww... Fat Bob.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 8:05 PM on June 8, 2018
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 8:05 PM on June 8, 2018
I was once on a pretty difficult shroom trip (it involved the ceiling being crawling with paisley and then the Great White Light Of The Universe appearing behind the paisley and questioning me deeply about my soul and then asking "ARE YOU READY?" and having to answer and having to deal with the consequences of my answer...
And then the ceiling turned into a sea of crawling threatening asian dragon type creatures and things got difficult and the friend I was with changed out the DJ sets we were listening to for Disintegration and all my worries melted away and I was floating on a river and all was okay.
I've never been a The Cure fan, but for that I utterly respect them and never change the radio if they come on.
posted by hippybear at 8:13 PM on June 8, 2018 [14 favorites]
And then the ceiling turned into a sea of crawling threatening asian dragon type creatures and things got difficult and the friend I was with changed out the DJ sets we were listening to for Disintegration and all my worries melted away and I was floating on a river and all was okay.
I've never been a The Cure fan, but for that I utterly respect them and never change the radio if they come on.
posted by hippybear at 8:13 PM on June 8, 2018 [14 favorites]
For Robert Smith I thought this was a pretty upbeat piece. I mean, the dude’s a festival mogul now, and planning to make another album, like it’s some sort of retirement project.
posted by simra at 8:51 PM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by simra at 8:51 PM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
My personal favorite part of the interview is about when a drunk Smith talks over Bowie saying that he hasn't done anything good since 1982. I can totally picture that.
posted by Sphinx at 9:05 PM on June 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Sphinx at 9:05 PM on June 8, 2018 [8 favorites]
This post makes a nice counterpoint to the days events.
posted by Keith Talent at 11:07 PM on June 8, 2018
posted by Keith Talent at 11:07 PM on June 8, 2018
Oh as a lifelong Cure fan I’m so happy with how humble Smith sounds here about all his success. It makes me admire him even more. His process for creating “Head on the Door” with Ono-like instructions pinned to the door is just fascinating. Wish I could be there to put my hands to the sky in Hyde Park. Please tour the US this year, Robert!
posted by shalom at 5:41 AM on June 9, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by shalom at 5:41 AM on June 9, 2018 [4 favorites]
I’m okay with Friday being retconned out of existence.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:51 AM on June 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by pxe2000 at 5:51 AM on June 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
I used to be a big Cure fan, after a friend gave me a tape of Standing On The Beach: The Singles. I dropped out sometime in the 90s albums; the last straw was Bloodflowers, which was just laborious to listen to. Each song was about 2-3 minutes too long, with a needless guitar solo in the middle.
Though recently I mentioned this to a friend who's a current Cure fan. He put the album on and played “The Last Day of Summer”. Listening to that track, (a) it actually sounds like a good Cure song, poignant and melancholic and wistful, and (b) it can be interpreted as Smith lamenting that the creative fire that propelled him forward in the early days has dimmed, and inspiration is increasingly hard for him to find. Which, when juxtaposed against an album of turgid, extruded Cure-by-numbers, is even more poignant. When one looks at it that way, Bloodflowers (this uninspired album with this beautiful song lamenting its loss, growing out of its middle like a flower out of a muckheap) could be The Cure's most meta work.
(I then asked him whether he rated any of the Cure's post-Bloodflowers works. “Nah, it's all shit”, was his reply.)
posted by acb at 6:50 AM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Though recently I mentioned this to a friend who's a current Cure fan. He put the album on and played “The Last Day of Summer”. Listening to that track, (a) it actually sounds like a good Cure song, poignant and melancholic and wistful, and (b) it can be interpreted as Smith lamenting that the creative fire that propelled him forward in the early days has dimmed, and inspiration is increasingly hard for him to find. Which, when juxtaposed against an album of turgid, extruded Cure-by-numbers, is even more poignant. When one looks at it that way, Bloodflowers (this uninspired album with this beautiful song lamenting its loss, growing out of its middle like a flower out of a muckheap) could be The Cure's most meta work.
(I then asked him whether he rated any of the Cure's post-Bloodflowers works. “Nah, it's all shit”, was his reply.)
posted by acb at 6:50 AM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Can I just say that as the poster, and someone who in the late 80s and early 90s had a number of friends and acquaintances - some of whom were Cure fans - suicide and overdose but never had the privilige of being famous enough to garner headlines in their death, this week's 'events' should not be over-valued in relation to this post.
posted by spaceburglar at 7:38 AM on June 9, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by spaceburglar at 7:38 AM on June 9, 2018 [3 favorites]
Interesting that Robert says that it’s not The Cure without Simon Galllup. He’s great but he’s not the original bassist and I really like Michael Dempsey who played bass on the first album (the first two if you count Boys Don’t Cry as a separate album).
The best gig of my life was original lineup Cure at the tiny Marquee Club on Wardour St, London, with fucking Joy Division as the support band. Head still spinning now when I think about it.
posted by w0mbat at 10:41 AM on June 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
The best gig of my life was original lineup Cure at the tiny Marquee Club on Wardour St, London, with fucking Joy Division as the support band. Head still spinning now when I think about it.
posted by w0mbat at 10:41 AM on June 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
I like this guy.
posted by bongo_x at 11:23 AM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bongo_x at 11:23 AM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’m okay with Friday being retconned out of existence.
Already taken care of.
posted by multics at 11:46 AM on June 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
Already taken care of.
posted by multics at 11:46 AM on June 9, 2018 [5 favorites]
So a friend of my wife used to work at Disneyland, and back in the day they had a "rogues gallery" of people who had their pictures taken at Splash Mountain and never bought the pictures (mostly because they were flipping off the camera). Prominently displayed was one showing Robert Smith with a broad smile, his hands up, obviously going "WHEEE!".
She told my wife that back in the 80s she was sure she could have blackmailed the Cure with that picture.
posted by happyroach at 12:41 PM on June 9, 2018 [7 favorites]
She told my wife that back in the 80s she was sure she could have blackmailed the Cure with that picture.
posted by happyroach at 12:41 PM on June 9, 2018 [7 favorites]
multics: That Yo La Tengo cover and video brought the first smile to my face in days.
posted by sjswitzer at 12:52 PM on June 9, 2018
posted by sjswitzer at 12:52 PM on June 9, 2018
These days, the Cure are predominately a live act, renowned for their epic, multi-encore shows
My very first concert was a 3+ hour 3-encore The Cure show which has ruined my expectations for live music ever since.
posted by hwyengr at 10:09 PM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
My very first concert was a 3+ hour 3-encore The Cure show which has ruined my expectations for live music ever since.
posted by hwyengr at 10:09 PM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Or the time that he interviewed David Bowie for Xfm and arrived so drunk that he proceeded to talk over his hero for two hours. “I think my opening gambit was, ‘We can both agree you’ve never done anything good since 1982,’” he says, wincing.
Great news, everybody! Robert Smith has already had the most cringeworthy interaction that it's physically possible to have with another human being; you & I are fine
posted by taquito sunrise at 10:42 AM on June 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
Great news, everybody! Robert Smith has already had the most cringeworthy interaction that it's physically possible to have with another human being; you & I are fine
posted by taquito sunrise at 10:42 AM on June 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
For late period The Cure, let me suggest four songs worth checking out.
From 4:13 Dream, "Freakshow" (some fine guitar work from Pearl Thompson especially) and "Sleep When I'm Dead" (which is especially good live)
From The Cure, "alt.end" and "The End of the World."
There are a few other gems on each album too (and some stuff that is not so great) but Smith only puts out records that he can stand behind, so there's decent stuff on both.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:25 PM on June 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
From 4:13 Dream, "Freakshow" (some fine guitar work from Pearl Thompson especially) and "Sleep When I'm Dead" (which is especially good live)
From The Cure, "alt.end" and "The End of the World."
There are a few other gems on each album too (and some stuff that is not so great) but Smith only puts out records that he can stand behind, so there's decent stuff on both.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:25 PM on June 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by spaceburglar at 7:37 PM on June 8, 2018