“More hooks than a tackle box”
Cloud Control is the catchy and intrepid Australian four-piece working in the traditional indie rock framework (vocals, bass, drums and guitar). “Dojo Rising,” the first single from their sophomore release Dream Cave, is an undeniable candidate for a top-five 2013 song. Avoiding woozy, unapproachable distortion-heavy psychedelic rock, the band aims to Wolf Parade territory through youthful candidness chartered by singer Alister Wright.
With more hooks than a tackle box, the chorus simmers with synths, surf guitar noodling, splashy cymbals and Wright’s carefree attitude: “Give it to me easy / Give me to me hard / Just want to get lit […] Should have told you from the start / But I’m lazy.”
Wright is boldly matter-of-fact, fitting well in the pack of mid-’90s indie rock heavyweights: Pavement and Built to Spill. A bold comparison, but Dream Cave’s strength is positioned in the songwriting: masterfully layered, cool, unpredictable.
Dream Cave stuns with volatility, each song uncharacteristic of the preceding. Some swagger with danceable rhythm (“Island Living” and “The Smoke, The Feeling”) while others diverge into the wider pop venue (“Scar”). With as much emphasis on vocal hooks as instrumentation, the union marks Dream Cave in an understated and critically praiseworthy class.
Cloud Control
Dream Cave
Blue Mountains, Australia
(Votiv Records)
Engineered and Produced by Barny Barnicott
Mastered at Sterling Sound by Greg Calbi