Cush
California9 reviews across 3 releases
Cush was a California collective formed from the circle around The Prayer Chain after that band's 1995 breakup. Its 2000 Northern Records debut used Michael Knott's soulful lead vocal within a layered alternative-pop setting: dreamy, trippy and mellow, with inventive guitars, long arrangements and lyrics that moved between romantic feeling and religious devotion. Mid-1980s U2 was one clear reference point, though the record also carried traces of art rock and shoegaze. Knott left before the 2001 E.P., and the music changed sharply. The short release replaced the debut's atmosphere with louder garage rock, punk and new wave, using several singers and a deliberately loose, sometimes nonsensical lyric style. Spirituals EP One shifted again, recasting traditional spirituals through gospel, acoustic folk and modern pop.
Michael Knott's departure turned Cush's changing membership from a possibility into the band's working reality. The remaining core continued with guest musicians and singers, while the project kept its credits intentionally anonymous; even Spirituals EP One withheld track-by-track vocal identifications. The promised series of spirituals continued with SP2, and a live release followed in 2004. Cush later issued SP3 in 2013, showing that the name remained active well after the early Northern Records releases. A 2015 account described Cush performing live again with the original Prayer Chain core alongside rotating performers, rather than returning to the fixed quartet suggested by the debut. The 2015 performance is the latest documented activity.
3 releases reviewed
Spirituals EP One