Clouded
Cornelius Chapel, 2020
10/10
The multi-instrumentalist Les Nuby has an impressive resume, including sitting behind the drum kit for Verbana in the ‘90s, and playing with Idlewild, Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Vulture Whale and, currently, Holiday Gunfire. This solo album, however, might be his best work to date as the Birmingham resident reaches all sorts of variations of rock on the exceptional Clouded.
After a bit of a dreamy start to the guitar driven “Never Falling Away”, which falls perfectly somewhere between alt-rock and indie-rock, “Fight Sleep” soars with both power and melody that emits a (late period) Husker Du like energy with plenty of infectious grit.
The rest of the album is gold, too, including the crunchy rocker and crashing percussion of “Come To Us”, as well as the acoustic guitar beauty of “Hey Ivey”. “Ok Let’s Try”, the best of the best, then thumps with an anthemic quality as swirling guitars and contagious melodies invade a tune that could have easily made waves on MTV’s 120 Minutes in 1992.
Close to the end, “Say Love” recruits an organ in a hazy atmosphere that jangles a bit towards folk, and “The Shadowlands” finishes out the listen with a driving, charged, mid-tempo rocker that leaves us wanting more- a lot more.
Nuby played everything on this record where he penned each tune and he did a hell of a job. Whether your interests steer towards southern rock, punk, shoegaze, modern rock or the glory days of alt-rock Clouded resonates well and only gets better with repeated spins.
Travels well with: Bob Mould- Sunshine Rock; Porcupine- What You’ve Heard Isn’t Real