FEATURE: Spotlight: Crack Cloud — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Crack Cloud

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THIS is a bit of a strange one…

PHOTO CREDIT: Matilda Hill-Jenkins for Loud and Quiet

for my Spotlight feature, as I am not aware of Crack Cloud having a Facebook or Twitter account. I normally avoid acts that do not have that social media coverage because, at this hard time, you wonder why anyone would overlook the reach you get on these platforms. I am sure there is a particular reason why they have swerved Twitter and Facebook – or maybe I have not looked hard enough to find their accounts! I have been hearing them on the radio a lot lately, as their album, PAIN OLYMPICS, is out on 17th July. I really love their sound and, unlike so many bands, Crack Cloud have so much personality and intrigue. I will get to their upcoming album soon but, before then, I wanted to look at a couple of interviews they provided in 2018. I know Crack Cloud have been on the scene for a while but, as a lot of people have not heard of them – and the social media output is pretty slim -, I thought I would include them now. The first interview that I want to bring in is from The Guardian. In every sense, back in 2018, the band were unlike anything out there:

“Wedged on the tiny stage of Manchester venue Peer Hat, Canadian seven-piece Crack Cloud make an arresting spectacle. As well as playing conventionally, the four guitarists strum their guitars’ headstock, creating a high-pitched “ching” sound. Their furiously intense post-punk also takes in two keyboardists – one of whom is a tall, Canadian-Pakistani man with a beard, dyed blond hair and gold nail varnish who also plays a penny whistle.

Stage-front, founding member Zach Choy is their hypnotic, shirtless drummer. He has “laughing at the system” tattooed over his bellybutton and plays left-handed on a drum kit set up for a right-handed person. Why doesn’t he swap the kit around? “I have a hard time following the rules,” he says the next day, to much laughter, as the band mill around the house where they stayed after the gig, drinking coffee and dyeing their hair.

Crack Cloud are certainly unconventional: a multimedia collective of musicians, film-makers, artists and designers, made up of recovering addicts and people who work with mental health patients and people with addiction. Their influences stretch from Gang of Four and Talking Heads to Fela Kuti, Malcolm X and hip-hop. Thus far, the band have recorded two excellent EPs (on Coventry indie Tin Angel, after the label owner, Richard Guy, flew to Canada to meet them) and are recording an album that will be more informed by hip-hop, with “less post-punk tropes and more storytelling,” says Choy”.

It is clear that this is no ordinary band. Crack Cloud are more an artistic movement that happens put out music. I love the fact that they are not conventional and linear but, at the same time, they produce songs that anyone can appreciate. A lot of bands that are unique can be a little on the fringes and they do not appeal to everyone. I am hearing from so many people who love Crack Cloud and what they have been putting out the past couple of years.

I was looking back at the interview archives and following this band who have grown in confidence and ability since 2018. I think Crack Cloud have a huge future ahead of them, and they are one of these bands who will do things their own way and not conform to the mainstream. I was struck by an interview from The Quietus published last year, where drummer Zach Choy, again, spoke and showed why Crack Cloud are such an interesting and different force for music:

“What’s most obvious about Crack Cloud, from listening to their music and from speaking to them in person, is that they are an extremely intelligent band, and one who are always looking forwards. That is not to say that they want to simply ‘move on’ from their past, but rather they feel far more comfortable expressing what they want to say about it through their art, rather than interviews. Where their terse and tight first two EPs, collected as a 2018 self-titled album, drew immediate (and to the band, tiresome) comparisons to Gang Of Four, the material that follows is a distinctly more open-hearted affair. They are currently working on an ongoing series called ‘Pain Olympics’, the first part of which was shared earlier this year in the shape of ‘The Next Fix’, followed by 'Crackin Up' two months later. 'The Next Fix' is remarkably moving and expansive, opening up the band’s sound into a gorgeous sprawl with a video that celebrates strength through community. Themes of addiction and recovery are more prevalent on the song than they ever were before, but they are very much in the hands of the band.

“The reason why we make art is that it allows us to communicate philosophically on a more profound level,” says Choy. “I’m ambivalent about the purpose of interviews like this. It’s one thing to have these to have these conversations and talk candidly, as support workers within our own community there’s a lot of candid conversation and that’s how you cope and debrief. It’s important to talk about these things, but when it’s being publicised as a means of tokenising…”

The guys are preparing to release a long-awaiting L.P., and I think they will win a lot of new fans. I was not aware of their work pre-2020, so I have been going back and seeing how they sort of started out. Looking at this 2018 interview from Loud and Quiet, and I learned that the band’s debut album was a combination of their first couple of E.P.s:

“And Crack Cloud should have their sights set high. Their self-titled debut LP is a reissue of their two bedroom EPs, ‘Crack Cloud’ and ‘Anchoring Point’, but carries the self-assuredness of a band much further down the line. True to its name, ‘Anchoring Point’ in particular is the band finding their centre; a many layered art project that sees Zach hit his mark in danceable post-punk akin to Gang of Four and early Talking Heads.

“The first EP was a bit more organic, more live off of the floor – we built it from rhythm sections and then added guitars and structured it,” Zach says. “It’s always been a studio project. It’s been a collage of sorts. ‘Anchoring Point’ was when we really started experimenting with layering and with fleshing everything out piece by piece, one at a time.”

The two EPs were never meant to be a package deal but they were both born out of an emotionally tumultuous time for the band, and together they close the door on an era that Zach and the others are happy to have relegated to the past.

“They definitely represent a chapter in our life that now we can all let go of,” says Zach.

Guitarist Jon Varley, who up until this point has been quietly rolling a cigarette and nodding along, leans around him into the conversation. “It’s definitely a jumping off point stylistically too,” he points out”.

I have listened to the music from those E.P.s, and what they are putting out now. You can hear the little improvements and changes since 2016 (when their eponymous E.P. was released) – I think that rate of progression will continue to occur. I am really excited by the prospect of PAIN OLYMPICS, as it is primed to be one of the best albums of the year. I have loved the single, Ouster Stew, and it seems like the remainder of PAIN OLYMPICS is going to be just as strong. You can pre-order the album here, but, if you need a few more details, here is some information from DIY:

“Vancouver collective Crack Cloud have finally announced that their debut album is on the way!

Following 2018’s EPs ‘Crack Cloud’ and ‘Anchoring Point’, the group’s first full length ‘PAIN OLYMPICS’ is set to land on 17th July, and to celebrate their sharing the video for punk-funk lead single ‘Ouster Stew’ as well.

‘PAIN OLYMPICS’ Tracklisting:

1. Post Truth (Birth of a Nation)

2. Bastard Basket

3. Something’s Gotta Give

4. The Next Fix (A Safe Space)

5. Favour Your Fortune

6. Ouster Stew

7. Tunnel Vision

8. Angel Dust (Eternal Peace)”.

Even they are a little lacking in social media platforms, their music has got out there, and it is connecting with so many people. This year has been a busy and incredible one for albums, and I feel Crack Cloud are going to add to that with something sensational. I love what they do; Crack Cloud are such…