Ljs: Cults: now a hit with soccer moms

Mysterious duo Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion have gone from bloggers' buzz to Beyonc� labelmates

Madeline Follin is sitting outside a Shoreditch cafe. Opposite her is boyfriend and bandmate Brian Oblivion. Dressed in matching black and with long'n'glossy hairdos, Cults are exactly how you'd expect them to look. It's like sitting in as third wheel on an incredibly cool date. But, after being told to tuck in to a (very nice and not at all trendy) victoria sponge, it's apparent that these two don't simply pout their way through life. "We're not afraid to say mean things to each other," says Follin. "There was plenty of 'I hate you, you asshole! Don't ever talk to me again' when we were making the album."

They joke, but if they weren't a couple, Cults probably wouldn't exist. Follin and Oblivion (not his real name, he was christened Ryan Mattos) met in San Diego two years ago when he was tour-managing Madeline's brother's band the Willowz. After discovering she'd left her stuff in San Francisco, he offered to drive her across California to get it, and on the journey ? someone make a romcom about this, quick! ? they bonded over a love of Justin Timberlake. That they were both also moving to NYC to study film meant it was almost inevitable that something would happen, and the pair started recording songs in February last year. Their first track was called Go Outside; beginning with a croaky sample of Jonestown cult leader Jim Jones, it's a ridiculously catchy three minutes and 22 seconds of 60s pop sway, with sweet vocals delivering downbeat lyrics about sleeping the day away. It was an instant hit on the blogs and a lack of information about who was behind it made people want to hear more. "We didn't want loads of pictures of us on our website," says Oblivion. "Keeping a romance about it was on our mind for a long time."

The tactic worked, with Columbia imprint In The Name Of signing the pair in January this year. As reported in tabloids months later ("We kept it quiet but only because it's not important to us," they claim) the label is fronted by none other than Lily Allen. Despite having a gob on her, Lily has turned down opportunities to speak on their behalf. The band, in turn, seem more excited by the major-label association and boast that everyone from Beyonc� to Bob Dylan (even Ke$ha) has been on "their label".

"Oh! And Perez Hilton loves us!" laughs Madeline, "A guy in New York sent him an email saying, 'Hey your highness, I just want you to check out this band, they're soooooo mysterious, can you get to the bottom of this?' And he was into it. He asked us to play his party!" As a result, their shows aren't as hip as you might imagine. The average Cults crowd now includes soccer moms and football players."It's awesome," says Madeline. "I love the women who shout 'I LOVE Y'ALL SONGS!'"

'Lady Gaga is just manufactured rebellion, the lamest thing ever'

But while Cults have built a fanbase, they have also attracted criticism. Their self-titled album has been knocked for its "nostalgic" sound. There's a strong case for such claims, with Spector-style boom boom-boom tish drums, bits lifted from the Swedish Pop Textbook, boy/girl sha-la-la-ing (particularly noticeable on totally brilliant track Bumper) and a glockenspiel. But Cults see looking backwards as something positive. "There are a lot of bands reviving stuff but ? hey! ? it's been like 50 years! It isn't even our parents' music any more," says Brian. "Like, all of our songs start with a drum loop made on a very modern MPC. Then we move on to melody, which is pop-influenced, but we fill the space up with textures and electronics."

Cults' music may be nostalgic, but it's all new to them. Brian started his career in a Slayer tribute band before moving to hip-hop (that's when the name change came about). Madeline, meanwhile, was offered a record deal with Recess Records aged nine after hanging out in the studio with her stepfather, White Zombie's Paul Kostabi, and Dee Dee Ramone. Now she likes to chat excitedly about a lot of music from the Crystals to MGMT, Lesley Gore to Best Coast.

"We all love James Blake," Brian chips in. "The other week we were downstairs in our hotel, drinking and snorting Xanax and we got too crazy and started pounding on the table and singing his songs."

So, great. But while Cults have lots of music they love, there seems to be one pop strand they don't."Like, Lady Gaga is manufactured rebellion, the lamest thing ever," says Madeline. "We saw an hour-long HBO live concert of hers and she was just shouting things like, 'GET YOUR DICKS OUT!' It was awful".

"Yeah, the next wave of pop music that we hope will get big is made by people who aren't pretending to be something else," says Brian. "I've grown tired of people who are obsessed with themselves." But what about their own egos, won't they get in the way? "I was in a band before, and all that was just too much. But then I was never trying to be serious. When you make the music you really want to, you put more into it."

With that, they're back to chatting about things they love. In the name of some seriously good pop, then, let's hope this couple don't fall out any time soon.

You can stream Cults' debut album here

Sian Rowe

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