The Cure
Crawley, United Kingdom6 reviews across 5 releases
The Cure is an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1976 as Easy Cure; after the name was shortened in 1978, the group signed to Fiction Records. Robert Smith's songwriting shaped an unusually mobile sound. The 1979 debut Three Imaginary Boys used spare post-punk arrangements, nervous repetition and flashes of odd humor, while Seventeen Seconds turned toward slower tempos, stark keyboard color and a more solemn atmosphere. Later work retained the contrast between gloom and pop, but expanded it through long introductions, layered guitars and electronic textures. The band's B-sides show the same range in concentrated form, moving from alienated songs to dance rhythms, surreal experiments and unexpectedly bright melodies. Smith remained the only constant member as the music changed around him.
Michael Dempsey left at the end of 1979, and Simon Gallup and Matthieu Hartley entered before Seventeen Seconds; Hartley soon departed, while Gallup later left and returned. The Cure continued through repeated changes around Smith, including the exits of Lol Tolhurst, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams and Roger O'Donnell. Fiction's relationship with the band ended in 2001, followed by a Geffen deal in 2003. In 2005 Perry Bamonte and O'Donnell left, Thompson returned, and the group later made 4:13 Dream before Thompson's final departure in 2009. Reeves Gabrels joined in 2012. Bamonte returned for the 2022 tour, but the current lineup is Smith, Gallup, Jason Cooper, O'Donnell and Gabrels. The Cure remains active and released Songs Of A Lost World in 2024.
