The Cloud Room Shine on Tour with Muse
June Caldwell
July 26, 2006
How will this Brooklyn band of local heroes, peppered with some international buzz - just beginning to hit their stride - do with only 4 days to prepare for a national tour as the support band for Muse, the number one band from the UK?
The Cloud Room takes on the challenge and the curious crowd gathers like a romulus billow on the horizon to witness the outcome, on July 19 on the second date of their tour. Make no mistake, this was not an easy gig for any band! The huge legendary outdoor Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, while the sun was still high during the record breaking global warming poster-child heat wave… and a crowd that was generally still milling, stuck in traffic, or just hunkered down in their seats to see the bigger-than-life Muse. In band-gorged LA, this is a gig that can make a band, or chew them up and spit them out before they have finished their set.
The Cloud Room hit the stage with boyish enthusiasm and charm. J’s (yes, he is known as just J) vocals inevitably hit you first, with their strength and silkiness. Your mind starts ticking through the list of who they remind you of: Franz Ferdinand, Lou Reed, you get the picture. What is unsettling and refreshing at the same time about this band is it’s slightly schitzophrenic quality. Are they a dreamy neo-psychedelic pop band in the vein of Flaming Lips or Polyphonic Spree? Or are they a spiky hook driven neo-80s synth dance band like Franz and Killers? The answer is yes, and yes! which is their strength. They have used these albeit familiar influences and effortlessly applied them to individual songs with a heart and story all their own, without getting caught up in joining either camp lock-stock-and-barrel, thus avoiding membership in the heap of clone bands dotting myspace. The set was a strong balance of their many personalities, and showed them to be up to the arena sized venue, and a force to be reckoned with.
They started out appropriately with ‘Sunlight Song’ (since said sun was still pounding down on us atypically at 8 pm), an entry from the gentler side of The Cloud Room ala Flaming Lips meshing with a little Pilotdrift quirkiness. Drifting like clouds, poignant vocals like a ray of sunlight shining through and breaking into a delicate prism. Sweet bare guitar and harmonies. Sparse instrumentals showing off the poignant tender strength in the vocals. Taught yet dreamy, you picture running in a field in the sunlight in love for the first time... er, maybe that was just me, but you get the idea!
The Blackout!’ was their upswing side with your Franz Ferdinand and Killers meet New York Dolls vocals. The danceable full 80s synth sound yanked the crowd into attention. Playful keyboards, catchy chorus. You will be singing about the ‘coo-coo fire’ all day (probably not the real lyrics, but that is what I found myself humming during the break!). The dance synth sound but fuller, more precise arrangements than your run of the mill band on the street.
Devoured in Peace’ was melodic and bright with clean guitar strokes, vocal harmonies in bright colors. Their signature wry wit of upbeat sounds with dark themes shone through.
The Hunger’ was more spiky then their other songs in the set, the crowd was coming to attention and head bopping. Muscle beats with strong vocal harmonies.
We Sleep in the Ocean’ was one of my favorites. Rhythmic strumming, full guitar, you start to sway, then all of a sudden the vocals let loose like Art Brut on a shot of espresso. Starting out with clean upbeat guitars, you think this will be a minimalist melodic folksy ditty until the vocals break out into joyous revelry cranking it up several notches with welcome harmonies.
Hey Now Now’ is the shoe-in for their hit single. With upbeat Lou Reedish vocals, it kicks in immediately with a chorus that won’t quit, ‘Hey, Now, Now’ sounds like one of those instant sing-alongs. You simply cannot hear this without finding yourself humming ‘Hey Now Now!” for the rest of your life, I challenge you. The thundering guitars in a bright sparkling arrangement make you just forget anything but having fun and enjoying the moment. Ironic since the lyrics come from such a dark place, but fitting from this band that is the epitome of opposite forces sitting down and sharing a beer.
The Cloud Room takes on the challenge and the curious crowd gathers like a romulus billow on the horizon to witness the outcome, on July 19 on the second date of their tour. Make no mistake, this was not an easy gig for any band! The huge legendary outdoor Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, while the sun was still high during the record breaking global warming poster-child heat wave… and a crowd that was generally still milling, stuck in traffic, or just hunkered down in their seats to see the bigger-than-life Muse. In band-gorged LA, this is a gig that can make a band, or chew them up and spit them out before they have finished their set.
The Cloud Room hit the stage with boyish enthusiasm and charm. J’s (yes, he is known as just J) vocals inevitably hit you first, with their strength and silkiness. Your mind starts ticking through the list of who they remind you of: Franz Ferdinand, Lou Reed, you get the picture. What is unsettling and refreshing at the same time about this band is it’s slightly schitzophrenic quality. Are they a dreamy neo-psychedelic pop band in the vein of Flaming Lips or Polyphonic Spree? Or are they a spiky hook driven neo-80s synth dance band like Franz and Killers? The answer is yes, and yes! which is their strength. They have used these albeit familiar influences and effortlessly applied them to individual songs with a heart and story all their own, without getting caught up in joining either camp lock-stock-and-barrel, thus avoiding membership in the heap of clone bands dotting myspace. The set was a strong balance of their many personalities, and showed them to be up to the arena sized venue, and a force to be reckoned with.
They started out appropriately with ‘Sunlight Song’ (since said sun was still pounding down on us atypically at 8 pm), an entry from the gentler side of The Cloud Room ala Flaming Lips meshing with a little Pilotdrift quirkiness. Drifting like clouds, poignant vocals like a ray of sunlight shining through and breaking into a delicate prism. Sweet bare guitar and harmonies. Sparse instrumentals showing off the poignant tender strength in the vocals. Taught yet dreamy, you picture running in a field in the sunlight in love for the first time... er, maybe that was just me, but you get the idea!
The Blackout!’ was their upswing side with your Franz Ferdinand and Killers meet New York Dolls vocals. The danceable full 80s synth sound yanked the crowd into attention. Playful keyboards, catchy chorus. You will be singing about the ‘coo-coo fire’ all day (probably not the real lyrics, but that is what I found myself humming during the break!). The dance synth sound but fuller, more precise arrangements than your run of the mill band on the street.
Devoured in Peace’ was melodic and bright with clean guitar strokes, vocal harmonies in bright colors. Their signature wry wit of upbeat sounds with dark themes shone through.
The Hunger’ was more spiky then their other songs in the set, the crowd was coming to attention and head bopping. Muscle beats with strong vocal harmonies.
We Sleep in the Ocean’ was one of my favorites. Rhythmic strumming, full guitar, you start to sway, then all of a sudden the vocals let loose like Art Brut on a shot of espresso. Starting out with clean upbeat guitars, you think this will be a minimalist melodic folksy ditty until the vocals break out into joyous revelry cranking it up several notches with welcome harmonies.
Hey Now Now’ is the shoe-in for their hit single. With upbeat Lou Reedish vocals, it kicks in immediately with a chorus that won’t quit, ‘Hey, Now, Now’ sounds like one of those instant sing-alongs. You simply cannot hear this without finding yourself humming ‘Hey Now Now!” for the rest of your life, I challenge you. The thundering guitars in a bright sparkling arrangement make you just forget anything but having fun and enjoying the moment. Ironic since the lyrics come from such a dark place, but fitting from this band that is the epitome of opposite forces sitting down and sharing a beer.