NYC Artists on the rise: Clouder plays two shows in Brooklyn this week

The delightfully chaotic live show offered by Brooklyn’s bad boy band Clouder is something that needs to be seen and experienced first hand to truly grasp it all. Frontman Eric Gilstrap already had a reputation for a loose Johnny Thunders-like presence in his previous band, Telltale. However, he has now put down the guitar and is fully focused on delivering his angst-filled vocal lines while the rest of the band masterfully rumbles on behind him. On "Broadcast Victim" some kind of Peter Gunn detective groove is churned out by the boys as Eric’s vocal tone and delivery resides in a place somewhere between The Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten and The Fall’s Mark E. Smith. A wickedly tasty guitar solo (of sorts) leads the track to a madcap conclusion. "The Collapse" pitches delightful dual guitar and bass interplay against bright ride cymbal, as Eric wails on (in that Lydon-esque way) about how relationships fall apart. An even ruder guitar outburst takes this one to its tender conclusion. Two more glorious tracks can be heard on their bandcamp page from this, their "Serious Business" EP. Clouder will be releasing their debut full-length album on 12/20 in the digital realm. Physical copies are planned for late Jan/early Feb. They are playing a show at Party Expo on 12.02 and at The Charleston on the following day with Boston cult psych rockers 28 Degrees Taurus. – Dave Cromwell