Doing The Unstuck – The Cure
Tempting as it may be to dive into the darkness with war in Europe, three happy/triumphant songs this week from bands known more for probing the dark side.
‘It's a perfect day for kiss and swell/For rip-zipping button-popping kiss and well/There's loads of other stuff can make you yell/Let's get happy!’
Post-punk gloom and dirges aside, The Cure almost always (eventually) pulled back from the abyss to ponder the joys of life. As intriguing as 1982’s Pornography was on a sonic level, I confess to trading that vinyl – way too bleak for me at the time – for the atmospheric pop of The Thompson Twins’ Into the Gap. (Yeah. I actually did that). A decade later, The Cure’s full-length Wish had not just one, but three dazzling, mercurial wonders, including the megahit Friday I’m In Love, and High. The third is Doing The Unstuck, the musical equivalent of skipping class to run naked into the surf, hand-in-hand with the love of our life.