The Cult will hit the pavement hard this summer with the first leg of its 2012 North American tour.

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The Cult will hit the pavement hard this summer with the first leg of its 2012 North American tour. The 20-date trek is set to kick off on Friday, May 25 in San Diego, CA bringing the band’s incendiary rock energy to major and secondary markets across the continent. In addition, the tour will include headline dates at the Great Canadian Beaverfest in Windsor, ON, and at Buffalo, NY’s Erie Canal Harbor Central Wharf Concert Series (see itinerary below). For most of the dates, The Cult will be supported by Against Me! and The Icarus Line. Ticket on-sales begin later this week; log onto http://thecult.us/main/shows/ for all details and to purchase tickets.

“This is going to be a very intense, high-energy tour,” said The Cult’s vocalist, Ian Astbury. “We are really looking forward to the time we spend on stage connected to our music and our audience. That’s our purpose.”

The Cult – Astbury, Billy Duffy, called one of the post-punk era’s greatest guitarists, Chris Wyse on bass, drummer John Tempesta, and touring member Mike Dimkich on rhythm guitar – is touring in support of Choice of Weapon, the band’s first new studio album in five years, due out May 22 (Cooking Vinyl). Featuring The Cult’s signature sounds of Astbury’s vocals and Duffy’s guitar, the album was produced by Chris Goss (Queens of the Stone Age, U.N.K.L.E. Masters of Reality) and Bob Rock (Metallica, Bush, The Cult’s Sonic Temple), recorded in New York City, Los Angeles, the California high desert and the band’s Witch Mountain studio between July and December 2011, and written by Astbury and Duffy.

Early praise for the record came from the Toronto Star’s Ben Rayner who wrote that Choice of Weapon “feels like the work of the cosmically inclined outfit responsible for such durable records as 1985’s Love, 1987’s Electric and 1989’s smash hit Sonic Temple than anything the band has done in years.” And, from Rock’s Back Pages: “…a sea ring blend of cleanly distorted guitars, pummeling rhythm, and lyrics that channel an inner landscape reflective of a personal journey and descriptive of the state of the world, simultaneously.”

“When we were writing and recording ‘Choice of Weapon,'” explained Astbury, “we had no agenda, there was no particular destination, no place to be, and no chart position to aim for. We took our time, we went in, we grabbed the jewels, and stayed focused on keeping everything as fresh and as raw as possible. The new songs are a sharpened and heightened extension of everything we have ever done.”

Choice of Weapon reflects the survival in today’s volatile world where the sense of entitlement is growing, where we are constantly bombarded by “ones and zeros,” and where the “have-nots” increase on a daily basis. The album poses the questions, “how do we survive and still keep our integrity and humanity? What weapons do we choose to insure a sane future for ourselves and our children, and not de-evolve into a ‘Hunger Games’ scenario?”

On these North American dates, The Cult will play many of their classics as well as introduce fans to some of their new songs, including “Lucifer” – not a song about the devil, but a reference to the morning star, the idea of a journey through darkness and decadence to find the road to wisdom – “Honey From a Knife” – based on the Buddhist teaching about the seductiveness of addiction – and “For The Animals,” the first official single from Choice of Weapon. “For The Animals” asserts the rising tensions, the rage and hostility of the growing group of disenfranchised youth in our society.

“Again, we find ourselves with our backs against the wall,” Astbury continued, “and we like that, we like being outside the perimeter. We’re the long shot, so place your bet on us.”

Confirmed dates for The Cult’s 2012 North American tour are as follows:

MAY

25 San Diego, CA – Humphreys By the Bay

26 Las Vegas, NV – M Resort

27 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore

30 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre

JUNE

1 Chicago, IL – Congress Theatre

2 Windsor, ON – Great Canadian Beaverfest, Riverfront Festival Plaza

3 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE – Indoor Stage

5 Boston, MA – House of Blues

7 Buffalo, NY – Erie Canal Harbor Central Wharf

8 New York, NY – Terminal 5

9 Hampton Beach, NH – Ballroom

10 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory

12 Washington, D.C. – The Fillmore

13 Norfolk, VA – The Norva

15 Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues

16 Orlando, FL – House of Blues

17 Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle

19 Houston, TX – House of Blues

20 Dallas, TX – House of Blues

22 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre