She Sells Sanctuary

from the LP Love, Beggars Banquet Records, 1985



Although I’m sure the dissolution of Southern Death Cult was a travesty to some diehard goths out there (…and I mean “out there”…), for the rest of us it was most assuredly a stroke of good luck, leaving Ian Astbury free to roam and collide with Billy Duffy, subsequently giving us both an easier, shortened name (The Cult) & better music, in my humble opinion anyways. Having swapped drummers with UK goth freaks the Sex Gang Children, every last little thing had fallen into place by the time of this recording---and it sure as hell shows! The comparisons to Jim Morrison that Astbury was pelted with were unavoidable (he infamously toured with the remaining Doors members a few years back), but the music effortlessly straddles so many genres at once: ‘80s goth, new wave, indie, metal, psych…it boggles the mind! This remains not only this band’s definitive song, but a true symbol of the ‘80s decade altogether.