| Artist: | Clouds |
| Album: | Thunderhead |
| Label: | Elektra |
| Genre: | Rock/Jungle |
| Provenance: | I first heard this at a Tower listening station, and liked it but not quite enough to pick it up. So when I later saw it in a used rack, I decided it was fate and grabbed it. |
So Bryant said to me, "You have to hear this." He pulled me over to the listening station and put on "Blade", the fourth song:
got a blade
gives me perfection
This is about body modification and performed... with attitude. Hey, I like this group. They have good lyrics, lovely harmony, and a wide variety in mood, subject matter, and tone.
They seem a touch shaky in some places, as if their technical expertise doesn't quite match their vision. This doesn't detract from the album overly, though it presents a somewhat uneven effect; maybe it's that the harmonies in "Domino" and "Alchemy's Dead" don't seem completely integrated into the song. However, those are two of my favorite songs, besides the aforementioned "Blade". Even if it feels like there could be more to them, they're lovely enough as they are. "Kathy" seems to realize that vision, but doesn't grab me as well as "Domino" does.
Overall, the album is hookful, almost distracting (when reviewed for its purpose as an album to take to work). It's energetic and has good guitar bits(tm) and appealing vocals, and I'm certainly not going to complain about harmonies laid over crunch.
Clouds: Thunderhead
/ Gretchen / Flick
/ © April 23, 1997The Other Gretchen
Last modified: April 23, 1997
/ gretchen@flick.com