Some bands like to push boundaries, storm barricades and try to change the face of music; others stick to what they are good at and work in familiar territory. It seems impossible to simultaneously work in both fields; surely they are polar opposites, mutually exclusive, opposing camps. Well, yes, but somehow Desert Clouds bridge that gap. For whilst you can see the familiar elements that make up their sound – a large helping of grungy, stoner rock and desert blues tempered with psychedelic sensibilities – the way they re-arrange these sonic building blocks produces something wonderfully refreshing.
But whereas many bands could take the same musical elements and end up making a clichéd pastiche to any number of bands on the Homme/Lanagen musical axis or worse, try to reimagine 90s Seattle, Desert Clouds manage to make rock music that is cool, groove laden, infectious and well, to be honest…damn sexy. It is also forward thinking, wonderfully of the “here and now,” and reeking with modernity rather than nostalgia. Forget the patched denim hordes and their nostalgic tunnel vision, these guys not only know where they come from, more importantly they know where they are going and that is what really counts.
No Comments