Cult Figures - Between Us and Heaven

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 8 / 3 / 2024

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Review

If you are of an age that has you in the post-punk bracket and have kids, you may recognise the name Stuart Hilton. Previously a member of Berlin/London electropunks Das Fluff, Stuart is also a revered children’s book illustrator and also doubles up as as the drummer and a long-term member, along with guitarist Jon Hodgson and bassist Lee McFadden, of post-punkish outfit Cult Figures. This Midlands-formed band return with their third album ‘Between Us And Heaven’, a twelve track full length outing delivered by record label Gare du Nord, that illustrates the seismic changes, not just within the band but with the world at large. The boys’ repertoire actually dates back to their 1979 debut single (and still popular live favourite) ‘Zip Nolan’, which saw then singer Gary Jones and Jon backed by their influential mentors, Swell Maps. Since 2021’s critically acclaimed ‘Deritend’, the trio have added to the squad by recruiting new members Fraser Gillespie (lead vocals) and Steve May (guitar). It is worth noting that, in true jovial music story telling, before joining the band Gillespie, an enigmatic Glaswegian poet and bridge builder had little previous recording experience, and had never played a gig in his life. The sad part of the story is that the inclusion of Gillespie was a sort of forced addition due to Jones tragically losing his battle against cancer in 2022. Thewre are contributions in this album from Jones and the album is dedicated to him. The addition of both May and Gillespie, however, have powerhoused the band into a live outfit of some repute. The band worked on the album with legendary producer John Rivers (Specials, Paul Weller, Felt) at his Woodbine Street Studio in Leamington Spa and it was he who was responsible for their debut. This slab of new wave /post punk is a sort of continuation of the sound they are renowned for with Jones having lyrics included on the starter ‘Mr Producer’. Jones also has other snippets added with the two renditions of ‘Battle of the Beefcakes’ which has various levels of vocal, all of which are his, mixed into what is described as a Welsh voice choir. For me the standout tracks come in fours in the middle order and are the drum heavy ‘Global Conspiracy’, the slower ‘One False Move’ and the Mod-infuenced tracks ‘Sitting Target’ and the brilliant ‘Voice of Reason’. It is packaged in a triple page ( I have the CD version ) sleeve lavishly covered in paintings by Edwin Rostron and houses a nifty little booklet with lyrics and credits.

Track Listing:-

1 MR PRODUCER
2 BETWEEN US AND HEAVEN
3 UNBURDENED
4 BATTLE OF THE BEEFCAKES 1
5 GLOBAL CONSPIRACY
6 ONE FALSE MOVE
7 DEVOTION
8 SITTING TARGET
9 VOICE OF REASON
10 NEVER TAKE THE BUS
11 BATTLE OF THE BEEFCAKES 2
12 RAPIDE 40 SLIDEOUT

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/CultFigures/
https://twitter.com/cultfigures1?lang=
https://cultfigures.bandcamp.com/

Label Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/GareduNorduk
http://www.garedunordrecords.com/#face
https://twitter.com/GareDuNordUK

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