No, Cloud Control…
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[6.14]
Iain Mew: It’s winter in Australia now, but this sounds perfectly fitting for summer heat induced lethargy. It’s down, but in a relaxed kind of way, even when talking about breaking hearts. What it lacks in hooks and energy it makes up for with flexibility and cool bass.
[7]
Edward Okulicz: “Dojo Rising” has an awful name and is short on big memory-resident hooks, and the one it does have reminds me of OK Go, but its sticky summeriness is very appealing. The drums are mere slaps but the bass propels the track forwards — presumably towards the fridge for a beer.
[7]
Brad Shoup: That psych-lite, sunshine-pop vocal traipsing over that 120 Minutes torpor. A decent song for driving to the lake, but once you’re on the boat you need some adrenaline.
[5]
Patrick St. Michel: It’s at time very pretty, but also a little lazy — lead singer Alister Wright admits that really early in the song, and the drifting way this track unfolds proves him to not be modest. Yet “Dojo Rising” comes off as a very defeated number, Wright seemingly settling when he sings “And I don’t want anything, yeah.” The lethargic songwriting ends up making that resignation come through even clearer.
[6]
Anthony Easton: The atmospheric noise around the chorus seems borrowed from the Killers at their best, but the Killers have been gone too long, and that sound is too gorgeous to remain unclaimed.
[7]
Alfred Soto: The echo can’t disguise how silly this thing is. Maybe it emphasizes the silliness. At any rate the silliness doesn’t mitigate the indie-ennui male vocal and the too-loud drum machine.
[3]
Jonathan Bradley: Cloud Control nudges and prods its rather delicate melody into place with treatment so soft it’s almost too ginger. Alister Wright allows his vowels to hang so tentatively it’s as though he’s hoping for the chance to take them back the moment they leave his mouth. “Let’s talk about logistics,” he stalls, then, in murmuring diffidence: “that would make me feel so… good.” Strong words! (They’re there to distract from a sinuous and cruel hook: “I’m gonna break your heart; shoulda probably told you from the start.”) There’s a bit of Vampire Weekend in the way the arrangement revolves around vocal harmonies and hiccups, and some Go-Betweens in the bookish prettiness. It’s probably the best thing they’ve ever done.
[8]