CLOAKROOM at the Smiling Buddha, Monday, January 4. Rating: NNNN
With the house music still on, Indiana natives Cloakroom launched into the warped stomp of Paperweight, the kick-off track from their 2015 debut record, Further Out. The trio handle their live sound the same way their shoegazey predecessors did: with maximum volume. But they’re dynamic, too, employing the classic loud-quiet-loud aesthetic. The quiet bits have shades of late 90s/early 00s alternative radio, the loud parts are doomy sludge.
“Great to be back in Toronto,” lead singer Doyle Martin said before storming into the blissfully noisy Lossed Over. “It’s cold in the ‘T.’” The almost-packed Smiling Buddha felt hot and heavy, though, the crowd caught in the crosshairs of Cloakroom’s massive amps and Bobby Markos’s twisted, distorted bass lines. While the combination of towering noise and melodramatic vocals – dubbed “stoner emo” – is refreshing, the band wisely called the show after one last slow-burner, around the same time the energy was beginning to slip.
“Tip the bartender, stay in school,” Martin said, taking his guitar off. “Don’t do druuuuugs.”
music@nowtoronto.com | @MattGeeWilliams