Quick Hits on The Clydes and Clouder

Been Meaning to Mention These

I think it was my senior year of college. We were living on 3rd Avenue between 7th and St. Mark's. There was this really short window of time between late 80s alternative and 90s grunge when power pop had kind of a hold on things -- for me, anyway. I'm thinking specifically of records like Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend or The Cavedogs' Joyrides for Shut-Ins. I played the hell out of those records, and I think I even saw both acts in 1991 / 1992 (Matthew Sweet at someplace like Tramps or Lonestar Roadhouse and Cavedogs at Maxwell's).

I started thinking about those years today after listening to a couple of things that I've had on my radar for the last little while.

The Clydes, Generator (2013). This EP from the New Brunswick quartet fits squarely into that sound I was just talking about. Second track "Marigold" with its bouncing, infectious guitar riff and clear as a bell vocals, achieves that kind of Beatle-esque feel that I think runs through the whole genre (And anything containing an "All Tomorrow's Parties" Velvet Underground / William Gibson reference is okay by me.). Similarly, "Shaken Down" features the sounds of classic power pop -- even throwing in some Girlfriend-style soloing about halfway through -- along with lots of "na na na's" and a nice lovelorn outsider lyric with "Everyone just sings along. / I don't even know the song." Things get a little darker, more psychedelic on "Bleak Street," but the slick production is there.

Clouder, Sister Raygun (March 4th, 2014, Fleeting Youth Records). While I wouldn't call the sophomore release from this Brooklyn five-piece full-on power pop, some of the elements are there on tracks like opener "Dancing in the Proving Grounds," "Lady Retrograde," and "Western Wasteland." Things here, though, definitely come down on the darker, punkier side of the spectrum. Lead singer Eric Gilstrap bellows and emotes his way through every track, lending Sister Raygun some real character. "Lost in Reverie" and "Phantom Girl" feature traces of surf and have a harder edge that reveals some of Clouder's less poppy influences.


Both records feature polished production that had me thinking "power pop," even in the case of Clouder where it may have been a bit of a stretch. Both also took me back a bit, to that time I spent living above McSorley's and their free rye bread and mustard on one side and Kim's Video on the other. That's pretty much where I come down as a "reviewer:" What does a particular record or bit of music make me think about in the moment? Not sure if that's useful to you, but what I will say is that you should give both of these a try.