Photos by Kory Thibeault // Written by Kevin Raos //
Cloud Control with Body Parts, Wild Ones //
Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco
January 21st, 2014 //
Cloud Control blew through the Rickshaw Stop last Tuesday, performing a fully immersive show to a small, but dedicated crowd. Supported by Body Parts and Wild Ones, fans who stuck around late on a weeknight were rewarded with a whimsical, yet vociferous, set from a promising young group of rising stars in the indie scene.
The synth pop rockers from Australia demonstrated a polished sound that was spearheaded by the vocal intertwining of Alister Wright (guitar, vocals) and Heidi Lenffer (keyboards, vocals). It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Tame Impala, in that their psychedelic blend of synth rock will put you in a trance one moment and then jolt you awake with their unabashed force of rock and roll the next.
With only two albums under their belt, Crowd Control played a heavy dose of tunes off of their latest record, Dream Cave (2013). The show began the same way as the album with the 1-2 combo of “Scream Rave” and “Dojo Rising.” The band went on to play nearly everything from their new album while sprinkling several songs from their 2011 debut album Bliss Release.
The musical highlight of the evening was “Gold Canary,” when in the middle of the song they segued into the classic Butthole Surfers song “Pepper” and then back into “Gold Canary.”
To say it was loud on Tuesday would be an understatement. The Rickshaw Stop likes it loud, but this was one of the loudest shows I have been to. It was impossible not to be fully inundated by the sheer mass of sound barreling into the crowd.
Cloud Control has made a name for themselves in Australia and slowly the American audience is catching on. The potential is there for Cloud Control to get big in a similar vein as Tame Impala or M83. Jinx. They demonstrated an impressive ability across the spectrum of music, quiet at times and vehemently deafening at others. Cloud Control is definitely a band to keep an ear on as I would not be surprised to see them appearing on some festival lineups after their European Tour.
Word isn’t out about Cloud Control yet, but that could soon change.
Setlist:
Scream Rave
Dojo Rising
Island Living
This Is What I Said
Happy Birthday
Meditation Song #2 (Why, Oh Why)
Moon Rabbit
The Smoke
The Feeling
Promises
Gold Canary > Pepper > Gold Canary
Ghost Story
Scar
There’s Nothing in the Water We Can’t Fight
Encore:
Dream Cave
Death Cloud
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