doodledee

Fearing that last Friday's show by The Owls at the Cedar risked being too down-tempo for the up-tempo mood I was in, I chose instead to point my jeep toward First Avenue where Cloud Cult was having a CD release party for their new disc Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus. On balance I think it turned out to be the right call.

This was the first show of the tour and the band was [admittedly] a bit rusty, but there were still enough high points for me to understand - if not fully appreciate - the massive buzz that they seem to generate. I mean, sure, they make a good effort at the feedback slathered folksy deconstructionist sound, but some of their antics just kinda bugged me. Like the fact that band leader Craig Minowa would occasionally fire up a drum machine to play some simple little rhythm while the REAL DRUMMER just sat there and stared at the crowd. If a stunt like that is how Minowa's "insane genius" manifests itself, I want my $8 back. If it's just some sort of post-modern joke, well then it's just stupid.

But to be clear, I'd say a good 70% of the show was solid. The older tunes in particular benefited from having a whisper of order to their chaos and I'm guessing that once the live arrangements for the new stuff get worked out that they'll come off much better. For now, however, I'll remain a grounded in the reality of what I heard.

Ida was the opener. They were soft and sweet and melodic and I liked them quite a bit. The lead singer chick even played a harmonium for a bunch of songs. Seriously, how can you not like a harmonium? One nitpick: between songs the guitar player dude was kind of a spaz - making jokes and kind of jumping around and stuff. It seemed like the rest of the band was trying to set this cool, mellow mood, but captain guitar clown didn't get the memo. Someone should have told him. Doof.