The Null Device
2004/2/11
An article about The Cure in The Nation, penned by Douglas Wolk (presumably the one who runs the Dark Beloved Cloud record label/singles club):
His lyrics, on the other hand, are remarkably consistent in tone and diction. Four words are the cardinal points of Smith's compass: "girl," "dream," "mouth" and "never." They appear again and again in his songs, sung with special relish, bent into new shapes every time.
This is the first time I've heard of the quadratic girl/dream/mouth/never theory of Robert Smith's songwriting; the theory I'm familiar with is the cats/drowning theory, which posits a dichotomy between happy Cure songs and sad Cure songs.
Point to ponder: were/are The Cure a goth band, an anorak band or a generic pop band? The goths seem to disown them, though that could just be goth snobbery. Meanwhile, they don't seem to be very anoraky because (a) they're not sufficiently shambolic, (b) they're not Scottish, and (c) they weren't on C86. (Mind you, two of these points apply to The Smiths as well, so there goes that theory.) (via nadinelet on LJ)
Looks like there's a new Christopher Brookmyre novel out; titled Be My Enemy, which apparently brings back incisive social satire, buckets of blood and Jack Parlabane. Not sure whether it's out in Australia yet though. (via Charlie's Diary)
Also: Bampot Central, a short story published on Brookmyre's website.