Puns notwithstanding, there is something euphoric about the Cloud Room. The songs off their self-titled debut album boast synth-pop hooks that should appeal to even the most bass-addicted listener. Even their name is derived from a different kind of euphoria: The band is named for a speakeasy that used to sit atop the Chrysler building in the ’20s and ’30s.
Lead Singer J. of the Cloud Room sounds like a happier Paul Banks of Interpol fame. The comparisons to ’80s British post-punkers like Joy Division and New Order are easy to make, but the Cloud Room is also clearly influenced by the dance-rock NYC scene in which they flourished.
J., along with Jon Petro on bass, Benjamin Nugent on electric piano and Jason Pharr on drums, rock the party on this precocious debut (released on Gigantic Records this past Tuesday). Catch them in and around their hometown in the months to come. The Cloud Room plays this coming Monday, April 25th, at New York City’s Knitting Factory.
