MTV Buzzworthy Blog › The Cure

(Credit: Jesse Grant/WireImage)

If we are charting Adam Lambert's style against that of The Doors singer Jim Morrison's, then it would seem Lambert has definitely reached the sitting-in-a-yurt-with-a-shaman-going-on-a-vision-quest phase.

That's the only explanation I can come up with for the look Adam was rocking at the premiere party for Season 3 of "RuPaul's Drag Race." Let's take stock here:

We're seeing a little bit of late-period Morrison, late-period Robert Smith, Trent Reznor, goth cowboy, a healthy dollop of "Mad Max" and even a little Ke$ha.

That leather poncho is really extra, dude. Respect for sporting that at an event attended by the likes of actress Vanessa Williams and various drag queens and divas. Whadda we want from you, Adam? Well, we kinda want an explanation, but we've still got your back. Even if it is covered in fringy leather.

We not only post this picture because it's pretty outrageous, but to mention that that tiny talent show Adam Lambert was on, you know the one, American something, is back for season 10, tonight on FOX at 8 p.m. ET.

Tags Adam Lambert, American Idol, Robert Smith, Star Spotting, The Cure, Trent Reznor

(Credit: Getty Images)

Lots of times you'll see a collaboration track pop up and think to yourself, "Ugh, who thought this up?" Too often the collaboration is really only there to grab headlines, not to make good music. I'm not trying to sound like, "It's all about the music, maaaan," but it's true.

And yes, this collaboration between electro troublemakers Crystal Castles and The Cure frontman Robert Smith certainly grabs your attention. It's New Wave's new wave paying homage to their artistic forefather. But beyond the headline, it's an incredible track.

"Not In Love" is actually a cover of the original by Canadian New Wave band Platinum Blonde. Crystal Castles originally covered the song on their self-titled sophomore album released this past April. The new version, complete with Smith's trademark pained vocals and swaths of My Bloody Valentine-style feedback, will be released as a single this December.

+ Listen to Crystal Castles and Robert Smith's "Not In Love."

Tags Crystal Castles, Robert Smith, Song You Need To Know, The Cure

(Credit: Jack Jeffries/MTV)

Led by the brother-sister duo of Juliet and Tommy Simms, Automatic Loveletter is a Florida four-piece that makes moody, atmospheric and powerful emo rock.

It's hard to put your finger on exactly what makes them so appealing (though we certainly tried in our Buzz On: Automatic Loveletter post). Is it Juliet's emotionally articulate vocals, which can switch from punk-rock yawp to operatic howl on the drop of a dime? The way the band handles the always appealing quiet-verse-loud-chorus trick? The charismatic mixture of The Cure-style New Wave and Evanescence-style rock on their newish album, Truth Or Dare?

Maybe it's just a family affair. Because, based on these new MTV photos, the brother and sister Simms certainly seem to have some familial chemistry.

Check out some more exclusive MTV photos of Automatic Loveletter's Juliet and Tommy Simms, below. Automatic Loveletter's Truth Or Dare album is out now.

Tags Automatic Loveletter, Evanescence, The Cure

Katy Perry's highly anticipated MTV Unplugged performance will be debuting on MTV and MTV.com this Monday, November 16. Rather than sleeplessly frittering away your weekend, hyperventilating and listening to "Waking Up In Vegas" on repeat, we thought it'd be a good idea to give you an Unplugged refresher course.

Here are some of the best performances of MTV's legendary live show, featuring some obscure performances and some unforgettable ones, with nary an amp in sight.

Nirvana, "Come As You Are" (1993)

For their episode of Unplugged, Nirvana revealed an aching vulnerability to their razor-sharp songs. This was an iconic performance, producing some of the most lasting, indelible imagery of Kurt Cobain.

Paramore, "That's What You Get" (2009)

Audience interaction is one of the best parts of these intimate Unplugged performances. In the case of Paramore, it's more about audience participation, as the crowd helps out Hayley Williams with the "whoa-oh's" of "That's What You Get."

Alicia Keys, "Unbreakable" (2005)

Unplugged puts the artist and their artistry at the forefront. In this 2005 performance, Alicia Keys shows the extent of her capabilities as a performer with a gorgeous rendition of "Unbreakable."

+ Watch more performances after the jump.

Read more...

Related Content Sneak Peak: Katy Perry's MTV Unplugged Performance

Tags Adele, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, mtv-unplugged, Paramore, Pearl Jam, The Cure, The Roots, video

A couple of weeks ago we hollered and crowed about The Swellers, a searing pop-punk act on tour with Paramore. Well, here's another example of Hayley & The Gang's good taste: Paper Route.

Hailing from Paramore's home turf of Nashville, Paper Route, who released their album, Absence, earlier this year, have a muscular rock sound that's nicely embellished with swaths of keys and assorted electronic instrumentation, calling to mind The Cure and New Order.

They have a slightly more over-the-top-bordering-on-goth feel, which might appeal to Paramore's latent goth streak (which was on display in their Twilight soundtrack jam, "Decode").

You can catch Paper Route out on the road with Paramore through the 11th of November.

+ Watch Paper Route's video, "Carousel."

Tags New-Order, Paper Route, Paramore, The Cure, The Swellers, video

Despite a blossoming love affair with Russell Brand, Katy Perry has been seen being all Elvira/I-Have-A-Cure-Disintegration-poster-hanging-on-the-wall-of-my-soul at the Sonia Rykiel show in Paris on October 4.

Real talk: It's working. Katy Perry might have blown up with a look that resembled a piece of watermelon Bubble-Yum come to life, all greens and pinks, and fruit-as-sex metaphors and whatnot. But she's been rolling through Paris, usually accompanied by Rihanna, like some kind of vampire/Blade Runner robot (or the lost female member of Tokio Hotel?) and it's A. GOOD. LOOK. Wonder if this means Katy's follow up to One Of The Boys is gonna be all doom and gloom and synths? Yes, please?

Dark and gloomy Katy Perry is a total departure from diving-into-cake Katy Perry of a year ago at the 2008 Los Premios. Not that we mind that Katy Perry either. Watch the video here.

Related Content Katy Perry And Rihanna In Paris

Tags Katy Perry, Photos, Rihanna, The Cure, video

The Mission District is a Montreal-based six-piece that combines '80s Brit pop like The Cure and New Order with contagious power-fuzz (just made that up!) pop-punk and churns out one fist-pumping singalong chorus after another. In other words, these clean-cut hipsters make dance music you can mosh to. Armed with unstoppable beats and endless sinister keys, the ex-punks have enough nightclub charisma to put glitter on your chest in a single listen.

Brain-conquering singles like "The Age Of Pretending" and "So Over You" have won them a steady online following (16,000 MySpace friendies and counting), a spot on tour with The Bravery, Elbow and most recently, Nightmare Of You. Oh, and Perez Hilton is obsessed with them ("Hot Sweaty Boys Make Hot Sweaty Music"). No big deal.

Get your hands and ears and everything else on the explosive British sound that's blaring out of Montreal's biggest speakers at The Mission's District's MySpace.

Tags New-Order, Nightmare Of You, Perez Hilton, The Bravery, The Buzz On, The Cure, The Mission District

Everybody knows that music is all about borrowing, and in her new video, "So Human," Lady Sovereign shows you how to do it perfectly. First of all, she borrows the magazine layout theme from The-Dream and Kanye West, flashing between different animated cover shots of herself in a frenetic collage of color and attitude. Secondly, the song itself is an adaptation of The Cure's classic, "Close To Me." It's a perfect fit for the sassy Brit, who dominates the girl-rap game in crimped hair and neon clothes.

Lily Allen, be warned. Your British sass trophy isn't as safe as you may think (especially after human headline-generator Perez Hilton bad-mouthed Lady Sov at SXSW). This smirky-mouthed little spitter is ready and willing to give you a big run for your money with this brand-new, pop-inspired confection. Watch the video for Lady Sov's "So Human," right here!

Tags Kanye West, Lady Sovereign, Lily Allen, Perez Hilton, The Cure, The-Dream

Funeral Party are dance punks from a metal neighborhood. Sounds dangerous, right? Well, lucky for them, it turns out that violent disco is exactly what the East L.A. underground's been waiting for all along. Good sports Chad Elliott (vox, keyboard, laptop), James Torres (guitar) and Kimo Kauhola (bass) play like their lives depend on it, turning out jam after jam of frowny New York grit (The Rapture meets Blue Oyster Cult?), double-dipped in all-night L.A. gloss. Although, something tells us they may see things sliiightly differently...

Buzzworthy: In "NYC Moves To The Sound Of LA," you sing, "New York City loves to mess around with the L.A. sound." What is the L.A. sound and who in NYC is messing around with it?

Funeral Party: DOES IT REALLY MATTER? THE SONG ISN’T ABOUT JUST NYC; IN GENERAL IT’S ABOUT HOW EVERYTHING IS JUST A REPEAT OF ITSELF. C’MON YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THAT MORE THAN ANYTHING, YOU’RE MTV FOR %@#&’S SAKE.

BW: The Trail Of Dead tour never stops in New York. Do you hate New York?

FP: UM, YEAH, WE DID.

BW: What is L.A.'s equivalent of the Statue Of Liberty?

FP: THE STATUE AT THE HOMELESS SHELTER FOR FP: THE HOMELESS PEOPLE YOUR CITY HAS BANISHED TO LA.

BW: What's sitting in traffic like?

FP: IT’S THE SAME AS SITING IN TRAFFIC IN NYC.

BW: Mayor Bloomberg asked us to ask you how many of your songs are about Cory Kennedy?

FP: WHO THE HELL IS CORY KENNEDY?

BW: Okay, so how did Funeral Party come to be?

FP: WE ALL MET THROUGH MUTUAL FRIENDS IN HIGH SCHOOL.

BW: Did you take your name from The Cure's song (don't tell me it was the Ludmila Ulitskaya novel)?

FP: YEAH, IT HAD A BETTER RING TO IT THEN “ALL CATS ARE GREY.”

BW: You're doing a lot of traveling right now. What are you listening to on repeat between shows?

FP: DIAMOND DOGS' ALBUM AND REVOLVER.

BW: What's one thing you can't survive without on the road?

FP: IPODS AND LUDO (NOT THE BAND, THOUGH).

BW: How have your shows changed since joining up with Trail Of Dead?

FP: IT’S MORE OF A ROCK SHOW THAN A DANCE FEST, LIKE IT WAS TOURING WITH YELLE.

BW: What's more fun to play: Clubs or backyards?

FP: BACKYARDS ARE MORE FUN BECAUSE OF THE INTIMACY WITH THE AUDIENCE AND THE ENERGY OF IT ALL.

BW: You're on Fearless Records. Be honest. What are your fears?

FP: PLAYING WITH OTHER BANDS FROM OUR LABEL.

BW: What do you make of the 25 Things phenomenon on Facebook? Does anybody care?

FP: WE SURE AS HELL DON’T.

BW: What band would you want to play your funeral?

FP: APHEX TWIN

BW: Thanks Funeral Party!

Tags Aphex Twin, Blue Oyster Cult, Diamond Dogs, Funeral Party, Lindsay Lohan, Ludo, The Beatles, The Cure, The Rapture

+ Holy HELL.  Forget the Oscars -- give me Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the new X-Men Trailer.  NOW. (MTV Movies Blog)

+ She ain't eatin' no more Cheetos y'all! Whatever. Who am I kidding?  Love her or hate her, however, there is no denying the power of the machine that is Britney Spears. (MTV Newsroom)

+ When he was a young boy, Miley Cyrus' whipping boy Justin Gaston surely said to himself, "If I just do this one photo shoot for this one soft-core-male-erotic-magazine-hiding-under-the-guise-of-male-model-career-launching-publication then I just might make it big!"  (Towleroad)

+ Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson doing CSI?? WHYYY?? Cause they don't have more important things to do like, say, i dunno. RAISING THAT BEBE????? (The Awful Truth)

+ What's this?  The City's Whitney Port and her slimy Aussie beau Jay Lyon are still together, despite the trailer for next week's episode? Say it ain't so! (Party Girl)

+ (P.S. Happy Birthday, Whit) (Remote Control)

+ If you're like me, then you totally forgot about saltine short stack Lady Sovereign, who's a'channelin' The Cure for her latest single (hopefully minus Robert Smith's rat's nest)  (Popnography)

+ Kelly "I'll-never-be-as-big-as-Beyonce" Rowland (blessing or a curse? ya heard??) redeemed herself in much more important ways yesterday. (People)

Tags Ashlee Simpson, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Hugh Jackman, Jay Lyon, Justin Gaston, Kelly Rowland, Lady Sovereign, Miley Cyrus, Pete Wentz, Robert Smith, The City, The Cure, Whitney Port, X-Men