by nickwan
One of those times when I was bargain binning at Amoeba in San Francisco, I came across a band called Saturday Looks Good to Me and their then-new release of Every Night (2004ish). I fell in love. However, the listenability throughout a day sort of wore since there were 12 songs which were all not exactly home runs. The obvious powerhouse of this version of SLGTM was the vocal duel between Fred Thomas and Betty Marie Barnes matched with some sort of indie throw back tunes to support their vocal exchanges. Between 2004 and now, SLGTM had lost Barnes and had Thomas fronting the band for a few years. This definitely wasn’t as dynamic or (let’s be honest) fun as when Barnes was sharing part of the vocal swagger duty. At that point (early in my college life), I sort of felt as if I lost one of those bands I could really call “mine”. You know you totally do that too, don’t be coy. But it truly felt like that album fell on me from the Polyvinyl Records sky so long ago and then was just abruptly gone, like a magician with a smoke bomb. Luckily, kind of like the movie Cast Away, things we love do return (sans Wilson. Spoiler alert, sorry).
Mighty Clouds is exactly Fred Thomas and Betty Marie Barnes in more of a stripped down, singer-songwriter style. I’m glad these two got back together, musically, because there is definitely a sect of fans (me and a few) outside of the greater Ann Arbor area that never want to see these two separate again.
Check out the album below!
The Pros
Betty Marie Barnes sometimes was overshadowed with SLGTM, due to either post-production reverb insanity, the “band” vibe, or the shared vocals with Thomas. There is no question with this album, Barnes is the vocals and Thomas is the guitars and such. The instruments that fall after the vocals and guitar aren’t too far off from what you heard on Every Night seven years ago, with the exception that the “band” vibe is turned down like a knob to about a 5 and the vocals are turned up to about a 9… maybe a 10. The songs themselves flow seamlessly from track to track, giving that feeling… weirdly enough… of mighty clouds. It’s dreamy. It’s whimsical. It’s your morning commute, or your drive home, or your picnic on the beach, or your bed time sound track.
I would also contest that this is quite the far departure from what is actually out there, in terms of this new push towards indie-surf rock. Although SLGTM had quite the premonition to begin a surf-type rock band… this is nothing like the reverb-to-11, funny tremelo guitars, and lazy drummers. If you haven’t heard a Fred Thomas band before, there is a distinct… Thomas sound. It’s twangy guitars and smiles. That’s all I can describe it as. Barnes is the warm ray of sunshine that shoots through cloud cover right before a sunny day. If you haven’t pressed play on the BandCamp player above, I suggest doing so right now.
The Cons
Although Barnes was obscured by Thomas with SLGTM at times, there is a lack of Thomas on the vocals with Mighty Clouds. I would have enjoyed a Thomas-led song, or even a Thomas-verse, mixed in here or there. In fact, I was sort of shocked on the first time listening through this album since I was sort of waiting in anticipation for Thomas to peek through. You get a taste of his voice in form of a count off on the track “I Could Have Told You Your Name Then”. Other than that, there are some hints of Thomas background vocals at times (unless I am just pretending like there is a male back up at times) but it is definitely not prominent, or even noticeable (or possibly not even there).
The torn down version of Mighty Clouds is definitely a way to bring out the very vocally-driven sounds of this album, and also a great way to flow easily between songs, but the narrative story-telling vocals might need something else if Mighty Clouds are thinking of LP #2 anytime soon. Possibly something more conceptual, lyrically? Possibly more quirky instruments? A marimba? Some brass instruments, maybe?
The Verdict
If you aren’t purchasing this album on Record Store Day (which is this Saturday, April 16th!!!) then you are seriously doing yourself a disservice. This might be one of the best releases all year. How fitting it’s coming out on one of the best days of the year. Do yourself a favor and buy this, rip it to your computer, put it on every device that can store music, and never be without it again. Never. Swear on it. Pinky swear. Find your brother, or room mate, or mom, or co-worker, and pinky swear this to yourself. Don’t miss out.
For more RSD releases and happenings, go check out www.RecordStoreDay.com! Click this link if you want to open a PDF of all the RSD releases this year!
