Interview with Cloakroom bass player Bobby Markos from 2013.
2015 interview with Bobby Markos.
There’s something triumphantly melancholic about Cloakroom. These three dudes make the heaviest, most lumbering tunes and it seems like they aren’t even trying. The problem with Cloakroom however, is that they are kind of elusive. Here’s what I do know, they share the same bass player as Native (Bobby Markos) and go by @Myndfuneral on the internet, they have a blog that hasn’t been updated in a minute and they have a couple of tracks up on their Bandcamp. So it has been difficult for me to stalk the band via the interwebs and social media. It has also been difficult for me to find any furhter information on the band, so I’m just gonna share the small amount of info that I’ve gathered. Cloakroom like Native, is from Indiana, their record label is Run For Cover Records, Infinity is their debut release (I think) and it came out on June 18th of this year. That’s pretty much all I know, so lets move on to talking about the music.
You may be asking yourself why I’m just barely getting around to posting this album review in September when the album dropped back in June. The reason for the delayed review is because I found myself enjoying this album more and more with every listen. I’ll admit that Infinity didn’t floor me after my first time through it, but every time it kept coming back around on my CD changer it kept sinking its hooks deeper and deeper into me. After probably about 20 times through Infinity, I can honestly say this album pretty much completes my mind, heart, and soul. I’m not going to go as far as to say that I am obsessed with the band (which, as Isaac recently pointed out is a term I use quite frequently when talking about bands that I enjoy) and I can’t be obsessed anyway, because I can’t stalk them on social media. The reason this album completes me is because all five tracks contained on Infinity are absolutely heartbreaking, inspiring and thick. I don’t know whether to be bummed or happy when I listen to Cloakroom, but what I do know is that it fills a giant musical whole in my life. I’ve been spending the past couple of months trying to figure out what bands Cloakroom sound like and here is what I have come up with: It’s like the voice and tone of Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan, mixed with the early distortions of Dinosaur Jr., the playfulness of the first two Weezer albums (back when Matt Sharp was still in the band, these are Weezer’s only good albums. Their new stuff is garbage. Bring Matt Sharp back!), with a dreamy splash of Hum and slight updated dash of Jesu and True Widow. So basically take every cool aspect about any band that’s any good and you have the greatness of Cloakroom.
Even though there aren’t many tracks on this release and the running time is just under a half an hour, it feels like a complete experience and journey. It’s interesting to me that this is Cloakrooms first release, because they seem to play off each other so well. The dynamics throughout Infinity are excellent with the band having the ability to hit you hard right from the get go then quite down, build ever so slightly and the very next moment crush you with an extended section of heaviness. They then immediately fade off into the air like dust being blown of your favorite C.D. of the 90’s. Infinity really is an album that is worth your time, it may not knock you off your feet after your fist listen, but like all great albums it grows on you and before you know it you’ll wonder how you ever lived without the sad, yet glorious sounds of Cloakroom. Now I just need to figure out how to get in touch with the band so I can tell them how much I truly am obsessed with their music (haha, I can’t help myself).
Rating: 5/5
Purchase / Stream Inifnity: http://runforcoverrecords.bandcamp.com/album/infinity
Further Out review here.