Thrill Kill Kult are one of those bands that I always seem to miss catching live. They used to play in Rochester all the time, but up through the Raygun tour I was still in middle and early high school and the shows always seemed to fall on a school night, which was a definate no-no according to my parents. Then, once I could go out on school nights, they stopped playing anywhere near me. Earlier this year I had a free ticket to catch the Elektric Inferno tour in Pittsburgh, but wouldn't you know I couldn't get off of work so I had to miss it once again. And now they're on tour again, and of course I have previously made plans for the night they're in Buffalo, so that means either a road trip or missing the Kult in action once again.

And if this album is anything to go by, missing them would be a huge mistake. I had pretty much written the Kult off after the underwhelming "A Crime For All Seasons" and last year's horrid "The Reincarnation of Luna". Looking at the tracklisting of this disc, however, the Kult realized that their back catalogue is much stronger than those two records, and only 1 track from the two - the actually quite good 'Sexy Sucker' - is included. The 11 tracks of the disc almost make up a Kult Greatest Hits. 'Kooler Than Jesus'? Check. '...Cuz It's Hot!'. Check. 'Sex on Wheelz'? Check. There are a couple of glaring omissions - no 'Blue Buddah', no 'Final Blindness', no 'Dasiy Chain 4 Satan', nothing off of "Hit and Run Holiday" - but overall, the tracklisting is very well thought out, sampling almost all of the Kult's many phases.

While it may seem they're trying to cash in on past glories given recent "failures", for lack of a better term, who the fuck cares when the past glories are so good? The Kult did trashy techno [or would that be tekno?] better than anyone else in the 90's [you like Primal Scream's 'Miss Lucifer'? The Kult did it first, and much better], and this disc is a fantastic reminder in case you've forgotten. Early, more atmospheric material such as 'The Days of Swine and Roses' and 'Ride the Mindway' get a dancier makeover, while career highlights like 'Disko Fleshpot' and 'Delicate Terror' - both from 1993's "13 Above the Night", arguably their most fully realized and finest album - were simply made for the live arena. Simply put, there isn't a dud here, and this is a fine representation of a band proving they've still got some life in them.

In a year where there are more greatest hits and live albums than you can count, many of them highly unnecessary and/or disappointing, it's nice to hear one that not only doesn't disappoint, but actually serves a purpose. Unfortunately, with next to no promotion, even long time fans may not even know that it exists.

Get the word out. It seems the Kult may have been written off a little too soon.

Review by James Freeman.