If parts of Pearl Jam's new album Dark Matter feel familiar, but not just in terms of the band's own back catalogue, there's a good reason for that. While the gloriously old-school Waiting For Stevie seems to nod to The Cult's Billy Duffy as well as Soundgarden, the euphoric guitar hooks in songs including the Jeff Ament-driven Won't Tell and Eddie Vedder-penned Wreckage reflect another inspiration – one Stone Gossard will happily cop to.
"We referenced The Cure a lot while making it," the guitarist admits in a new interview with Kyle Meredith below. "Because of them and their style; they teach you the power of the simplest little melody that has a unique lyrical quality. If it feels like it has a voice, if it feels like it has a lyric almost. And certain melodies, the way they lay over the riff, they sing, and finding those things is like magic.
