Among all of the bands carrying the return of loud, low, heavy guitar music pioneered by bands HUM and Failure, one act is often hoisted above the rest as the standard bearers.
That band is Cloakroom, doomgazers/space rockers/slacker rockers from Northwest Indiana (hey, that’s where I live)! And on their debut EP, Infinity, Cloakroom roars into infamy with the roar of a thousand amplifiers and an earth-crushing gravity.
As much as these huge tones have been championed recently (see also: Lume, Greet Death, Teenage Wrist, etc) it’s hard to remember what the context was like in 2013. Shoegaze and alt rock were rushing back to relevance thanks to bands like Deerhunter, Nothing, and Yuck. Deafheaven had released their breakthrough hit Sunbather the year earlier, which seemed to blow the roof off of the public consciousness’ love for heavy guitars. However, the dam had yet to break. Bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Ride were being rediscovered by a new generation of fans, but the so-called space rock branch of shoegaze still only had a small cult following.
Into this burgeoning fascination with fuzz pedals and loud amps, Cloakroom unleashed Infinity, their first entry of their self-proclaimed “stoner emo” (not to be confused with the “weed emo” of Mom Jeans). And while it might be a cliche to say their sound arrived fully formed, everything here would fit neatly on the tracklist of either of their full lenghs.
Singer/guitarist Doyle Martin plays as a contradiction, cooing in a gentle voice over his guitar’s ear-splitting heaviness. Bobby Markos, fresh off of the shouty, mathy post hardcore band Native, alternates between punishing bass fuzz and bouncing around the fretboard. Drummer Brian Busch grooves patiently, waiting for the amps to burst, then does his best to crack his cymbals with every strike.
And as far as EPs go, this is pretty hefty. Its five tracks stretch on for a full thirty minutes, the same length as Weezer’s Green Album. The first track, “Sedimentary,” slowly burns through its nine-minute run time, starting with a gentle clean guitar figure and building to a fiery wall of noise explosion, then deflating in a reverb-drenched, meditative instrumental section. “E” interrupts the zen with a drum groove and slowcore riff reminiscent of Pedro the Lion.
The B-side opens with “Dream Journal,” a brief track juxtaposing clean dissonant chords and heavy fuzz. “Bending” (apparently the single, since it has a music video), is a fitting summation of everything that Cloakroom does well: hushed, reverb-heavy verses with sleepy hooks separate the loud, heavy verses, oscillating delay pedals ringing throughout. Closer “Mind Funeral” is glacially paced and crushing, like an ancient giant, roused from its thousand-year slumber, bringing its judgment upon the land.
As far as debuts go, Infinity is perfect. Cloakroom sounds just as secure in their voice as they do on their most recent full length, Time Well, released four years later. Now, I guess I have no choice but to find a copy of Further Out and complete the collection.