At the end of last year, when I first saw Cloakroom live, I commented that when they were on stage their crushing wall of heavy and spacey guitars reminded me of Illinois alt-rock legends Hum—as opposed to the softer side they display on their debut full-length, Infinity. So it only makes sense that when the northwest-Indiana trio holed up to work on that record’s follow-up, their new Run for Cover Records double LP, Further Out—which gets its official release party this Sat 2/7 at Beat Kitchen—they brought Hum front man Matt Talbott on board for production and engineering duties. Talbott put the recordings to tape in his all-analog studio, and his overseeing of the process has resulted in a much heavier, more powerful record. The forlorn melodies and starry introspection of Cloakroom’s last releases are still in place, but their heavier side is more crushing than ever, and the dynamic shifts more dramatic and startling—the band’s shoegazey space rock toys with doom and sludge metal this time around, all while retaining smooth, melodic finesse.
Talbott ended up taking over lead vocal duties for Cloakroom on “Dream Warden,” the B side of Further Out‘s first single, “Lossed Over.” Check that track out below.
Joining Cloakroom at the Further Out release show are Sweet Cobra, Carbonleak, and Planetsexploder. The band is a big giant force onstage, so attendance is highly recommended.