Cults are an American indie pop duo formed in 2010, consisting of Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion who are both native San Franciscans. Their music is distinguished by strong influences from early 1960s Brill building style pop, and electronic beats. Follin and Oblivion were attending school in New York City (Oblivion was a documentary film student at NYU; Follin was studying at the New School). A couple at the time, they wrote and recorded songs in Oblivion's apartment using a computer and a cheap MIDI keyboard, and before the year was over, they released their self-titled debut EP on Forest Family Records. With the success of one of the EP's songs, "Go Outside", the band rerecorded much of its material for their self-titled debut album Cults. In October 2013, Cults returned with their second album, Static. Recorded with Stoneback in the wake of Follin and Oblivion's breakup, it won strong reviews for its emotive songwriting and peaked at number 114 on the Billboard Top 200. Following the 2014 single "Being It," Cults took some time off. In 2016, Follin formed the group Follin with her brother Richie, and released the single "Roxy" that February.