The Cure

Oddly enough for an album that bears the weight of being the first self-titled album from a band 25 years into their career, The Cure is not one of Robert Smith’s conceptual juggernauts. While the sound is still sweeping and grand – guitars and keyboards either come drenched in reverb and cathedral echo or with a hefty use of electronic manipulation – the songs do not entail the same epic doom of the band’s most cherished work. That isn’t to say Smith is either lighthearted or that the band lacks commitment. “Before Three,” “Us or Them“ and “Labyrinth“ spotlight the group’s trademark twisting melodies and emotionally inflated gnashing and belong in the band’s Hall of Pain as much as anything from other high-water marks as Pornography, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Disintegration and Bloodflowers. But coming from a guy who threatened to put an end to the group, well, there’s an unusually joyous bounce in his voice for a tune called “The End of the World.” It’s great fun, though it could make the faithful a little suspicious.