By Keith Walsh
For those who appreciate excellent songwriting and strange guitar music with echoes of grunge, goth, folk and Bowie, Harry Cloud has something special for you. Get past the shockingly theatrical cover art on his new album The Cyst, and you’ll discover 40 minutes or so of delightfully weird treasure filled with melody and humor.
Located near Los Angeles, California, Cloud is a multi-instrumentalist presenting a variety of moods,using mostly guitar and his voice. ‘The Cyst’s’ opener “Send Me Pictures” makes is a kind of melodic folk-country tune, but it’s naughtier than you’d might expect. “Ferryman’s Guild” combines the strange guitar voicings of Captain Beefheart with vocals reminiscent of goth rock. “Post Partum” plays with a grunge like electric guitar figure, while the vocals are somewhat fey and passive. The drums are mixed in a haze of reverb, while the sinister guitar and Cloud’s ethereal vocals tell a sordid tale.
“You Never Came To My Party” is somewhat like Syd Barrett’s solo work, not only in sound but in the theatrical play of isolation and melody. The title track tells of a villainous antagonist -could he be Cloud’s shadow self? “Soft Suitcase Colored Red” finds Cloud finally getting a bit funky, with wah wah guitars and a clavinet there in the background. The rhythms are reminiscent of work by the great Mitch Mitchell in Jimi Hendrix’s band. I’m not sure if it’s Cloud himself on drums, but whomever it is, Cloud should double his pay. All of the instrumentation on The Cyst is exceptional, as a matter of fact.
“Squid Friend” brings us again to not only Syd Barrett, but his disciple Robyn Hitchcock. The ability of write a song about interspecies friendships, particularly with sea creatures, immediately elevates a musical artist’s credibility. What at the end sounds like a quirky, bubbling synthesizer, though it could be a guitar pedal is an added bonus.
The droning dirge of “Most Likely Nothing Ever” evolves into a queerly buoyant chorus that evokes underground new wave of the early 80s. There’s hints of Pere Ubu and Pixies here for sure. “I’m Still Waiting” is an off kilter psychedelic ballad, with dreamy guitars and vocals. The closer “Lick The Lamb” is a downtempo rocker, with a simmering,subdued feel, just waiting to explode, which it does in the chorus and bridge.
The Cyst succeeds on many levels, with strong songwriting, strange melodies and pleasing tones that satisfy our desire for something other than generic music. Not concerned with fashion, in Cloud we find an artist determined to express himself as authentically as possible. Production by Paul Roessler at Kitten Robot Studios brings Cloud’s vision to fruition in a darkly beautiful way. Harry Cloud is signed to Kitten Robot Records, run by Josie Cotton, of the awesome 1980s tune “Johnny Are You Queer?”
(Photo Credit: Sarah Sitkin)
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