Album Reviews

If we are to believe Pitchfork, Cloakroom will be our favorite new emo band. Not sure if I completely agree with that statement, but Cloakroom definitely have a couple of things going for them. With a mix of everything from shoegaze, emo and space rock to slowcore, post-hardcore and stoner rock, they wrestle their way through ten songs that will depress the shit out of you. A party album this is not.

Things start off well enough with the nearly seven-minute-long “Paperweight”, which sounds a little like Jesu filtered through a haze of bong smoke. A couple of songs down the line however, I found my interest waning as all of the tracks start to blend into one another with vocalist Doyle Martin (Grown Ups) moaning/mumbling/singing in a way that is not all that different from what I imagine Morrissey to sound like after a couple of Valiums. The only song on here that could be described as mildly uplifting is “Outta Spite” and even that is stretching the meaning of the word a little.

Recorded completely analog with Matt Talbott (Hum/Centaur), “Further Out” has a full warm sound that allows you to completely immerse yourself in Cloakroom’s world. But it is a sound best consumed in small doses.