The Clouds (original) (raw)

(Every week, over at the Yahoo! Group, we dig up three old Clouds songs and review them... for those of you who don't like Yahoo! or are just new, here's this week's crop...

Track: 'Fantastic Tear'
On: Penny Century

Why: "Whinge rock", Robyn called it. And, dammit, she's right. The lyrics are sarcastic self-pity any teenage wannabe-Goth would kill themselves to be able to write this well --- and don't we all wish more of them would? In fairness, there was rather a lot of that going around back in '91, no thanks to a certain bunch of Seattleite longhairs, and this particular example, with its simple guitar line and resigned background voices seems to be more durable than most of its contemporaries. (Insert your own gun safety joke here.)

Track: 'Heartless'
On: Loot, Pre-Raphaelite

Why: The drumline, creeping up on you, faux-Oriental guitars that actually work, the eerie, perfectly fitting lyrics... This song has a twisted romance to it, the equivalent of the intriguing person in the café next to you who you can't resist starting a conversation with, even though you know it'll end badly down the track. Raise a glass to the band, before things turn bad.

Track: 'Shiva'
On: Futura

Why: Because it slowly sucks you into its own little world and doesn't ever really let you out. Because other Clouds songs promise rain, and 'Shiva' gives you the whole damn flood, from the first rumbles you hear upriver to when your unrecognisable corpse gets dumped a hundred miles away down the plains. Because if you listen to it often enough, it'll stay in your head even when the radio is blaring Titney, a virtue which cannot be understated.

For more info, check out the Yahoo! group...