The Cure's Greatest Deep Cuts
"It propels like a great Cure single, careering through high notes before telling us we're loved at the end. The feeling is completely mutual."
Words by David and Tom Perry
The Cure's greatest deep cuts. Are you as excited as we are? A story which began in 1976 (just as old as us!) The Cure exist as a ceaseless force within modern rock music, pioneering goth subculture and their own brand of melancholy pop / 80s new wave. It comes as no surprise that the band's discography may contain a significant number of hidden gems across their near 50 years, and vast 13-album (soon to be 14) discography.
With albums like Disintegration, Pornography or Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me garnering enough critical acclaim to be considered top dogs in a ranking of the band's greatest works, we are more than familiar with the big hitters across these releases. Yet as we eagerly welcome the arrival of their 14th album (and first in 16 years) Songs of A Lost World, it feels the right time to really refresh our Cure obsession with a more thorough deep dive. Here to dissect and divulge the band's real 'lost world' is our resident The Cure pundit and Rough Trade Head Buyer David Perry, alongside fellow Cure cognoscente, his twin brother Tom Perry.
From momentous live recordings, the strongest album openers, less easy listens and generally slept-on gems, Tom and David Perry unpick a selection of The Cure's greatest deep cuts.
The Figurehead
Live At Zenith, Paris - Paris
From the first beat of the intense, war-like drums, The Figurehead holds the listener up by the throat and doesn't let go. A terrifying glimpse into the inside of Robert Smith's head during a dark time; the band fighting, on the brink of collapse and gripped by alcohol abuse. The song is a funeral for the band, for the singer and the soul, despair finally complete. In a piece of music so unrelentingly desolate, even a moment of joy is crushed by the weight of time and framed in madness - 'and dust on the lips of a vision of Hell, I laughed in the mirror for the first time in a year.' The Figurehead is less of a song than an event horizon, where nothing, not even light, can escape.
Tom
(I Don't Know What's Going) On
And if we're talking of albums that don't get enough love - we should properly stop in on The Cure's self-titled. Created during fractious sessions with nu-metal producer Ross Robinson*, even RS has walked away from this one. Picking (I Don't Know What's Going) On off this album is fairly easy though. It propels like a great Cure single, careening through high notes before telling us we're loved at the end. The feeling is completely mutual. *Side note - Soko's excellent album My Dreams Dictate My Reality cribs The Cure's guitar sound down to the last decibel - produced by Ross Robinson who'd clearly been taking notes.
David
Underneath The Stars
After a rough time working with Ross Robinson on The Cure, 4:13 Dream wasn't a massive improvement on the album that came before. It does however open very strongly with Underneath The Stars, a beautifully balanced song about the wonder of enduring love. Two minutes of chiming, stratospheric intro lead into lyrics that recall two lovers gazing up into the dark night. Very few bands can pull off epic and heart-warming in the same moment - Underneath the Stars is a cosmic reminder that The Cure are one of them.
Tom
At Night
Perking up slightly but only to deliver a complete sense of rocking dread, the chugging and insistent At Night arrives at the end of Seventeen Seconds, another Cure record that isn't an easy go through, certainly a precursor to the walls of noise that make Pornography such an engaging listen. As fear-inducing as any track I can think of, it's hard to look away once it's started, and very easy to go back in again.
David
Signal to Noise
Join The Dots - The B-Sides & Rarities
A sister song to Cut Here, the single for 2001's Greatest Hits, Signal to Noise covers similar themes. Misunderstandings and distance in adult relationships don’t sound like especially riveting subject matter, but with a subtly propulsive backing from what sounds like a buffed-up Smiths demo, they are. Reportedly the song that briefly brought Pearl Thompson back into the band, Signal to Noise is The Cure grown-up-but-not-boring. It's a shame so few have heard it.
Tom
Bloodflowers
Closing the Trilogy of Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers required a masterpiece, and the angst-ridden title track of Bloodflowers utterly delivers. There are strong musical nods back to Disintegration, with reverb drenched guitars and synth washes dominating. But it is the direct lyrical intimation to fans that tugs at the heartstrings most: 'Between me and you, it's hard to ever really know who to choose, how to feel, what to do' Robert Smith is parenting an army of goth teens and borderline goth adults here, and I love him for it.
Tom
The Kiss
Something is wrong, very wrong, and is clear from the deadened, clanking bass notes at the start of The Kiss. Opening, and naming Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (an album Smith recently deemed 'scatty'), The Kiss is a song about the hateful tail-end of obsessive love. It's also the most aggressive The Cure have ever sounded - Smith's lead guitar burning with a furious vitriol which is unmatched.
Tom
Chain of Flowers
Join The Dots - The B-Sides & Rarities
An obscurity so good that the pre-eminent Cure fan page named themselves after it, appearing for the first time on the 12" of Catch and instantly decimating everyone that comes within a 1 metre radius of the release. Enough reverb to make time stand still and another aching look back on love, possibly the death of love. Though to be honest it feels like the death of all love. You've made the potion too strong Robert. But do it again!
David
The Blood
The Head On The Door
Released as a single in Spain only, this flamenco flavoured pearler explores vast, unending loss and powerlessness in a psychedelic face-off with Christ. I know it seems a little heavy for a single, but you know.. is what it is. Exploring the void, exploding and imploding within the space of four minutes, it fits seamlessly into the underrated The Head on The Door album - home to an equal amount of big singles (Inbetween Days, Close to Me) as it was insanely great deep cuts (Push, Six Different Ways. THOTD was arguably the most balanced record The Cure ever put out - even more so than Disintegration, which explores a feeling as much as song craft.
David
The Birdmad Girl
The Top
The Birdmad Girl, what a song. Straight in with a deep classical guitar riff and verse upon verse of maddening love. It wouldn't be the last time Robert Smith would transmogrify into animal form (The Catapillar, Lullaby) - but in the case the song has an almost lighter than air quality, which stands out against the Arabic flavoured goth squall of The Top. And if you're a Cure fan, you can measure by how often you listen to The Top. There was definitely an album in there somewhere, but it fell between much better work.
David
Pirate Ships
So not a Robert Smith song but a Wendy Waldman-Parker song, and a worthy addendum to Disintegration - loads of accordian, bird sounds and, again wistful longing. Wrapped in a lullaby setting, it's one of the most adorable catalogue pieces The Cure have in their canon, and people don't talk about it enough frankly.
David
Deep Cuts playlist
Inspired by the extensive musical library of David and Tom Perry, dive into the extended mix of Cure deep cuts with this dedicated playlist.
Next Up...
Songs Of A Lost World is the long-awaited new album from The Cure, their 14th studio release and their first in 16 years. Made up of 8 cuts and described as a return to their 'Disintegration era', The Cure's 2024 project reminds us of the staggering success of a band with true staying power.