Cults is an American indie band formed in New York City in 2010. The band first came to prominence when they posted a three song EP, Cults 7″, on their Bandcamp page. They are signed to Sony and In the Name Of, a record label that was set up by British singer Lily Allen. Their name has always suited them well; the out-of-Bandcamp-nowhere ubiquity of the New York duo’s “Go Outside”, still a fixture in TV commercials, that had all the hallmarks of a cult success. It also samples a cult leader, but Cults drew thematically on various ideas related to its nominal subject: romance as kidnapping, a band as a cult-like escape from the rest of the world’s expectations. Except Cults’ songs never sounded like they belonged to a niche audience. Despite a slight lo-fi haze, their bittersweet collage of 1960s girl-group elements, 21st-century production techniques, and direct, inventive songcraft was almost as distinctive on arrival.
