Cloud Control
XOYO, London
13/04/2011

As Cloud Control‘s name isn’t exactly embedded into the psyche of most British music fans yet, it’s perhaps slightly surprising that XOYO is completely sold out for London leg of their tour. Clues as to where this influx of punters has come from can immediately be found in the abundance of elongated vowels and upward inflections present in the accents around the room. They may not have released an album in this hemisphere yet, but the Australian four-piece deservedly scooped the Antipodean equivalent of the Mercury Prize last year for their richly rewarding, harmony-laden début ‘Bliss Release’. It seems that the band’s fellow countrymen love them, and have come out in force to support an act who may just be the nation’s most exciting musical export since…erm…Wolfmother or, er…The Vines? Jet? Let’s leave that one for now, shall we…

The Sydney scamps emerge amid an ever-present swirl of backlit dry ice and launch into an insistent rendition of recent single ‘Meditation Song #2 (Why Oh Why)’, before ‘This Is What I Said’’s jangly guitar riff shows off their more playful side, with shades of The Smiths and ‘Graceland’-era Paul Simon shining through. For the most part, Cloud Control‘s most obvious musical touchstones are Neil Young, Crosby Stills and Nash and other late 60s/early 70s US post-psychedelic era rock groups of that ilk. The lush three part harmonies wheeled out would certainly appeal to fans of Fleet Foxes, while songs such as infectious sing-a-long ‘Gold Canary’ wouldn’t sound out of place at a My Morning Jacket gig.

They might not offer anything particularly original, but the influences Cloud Control have plundered are stellar, and tonight they fire off an arsenal of catchy psych-rock tunes with commendable richness, authenticity and imagination, which more than keeps their fellow Aussies deliriously happy.

Francis Whittaker