Michigan indie rock hero Fred Thomas and longtime collaborator Betty Marie Barnes have revived the Mighty Clouds moniker for an archival release and a new single on Antiquated Future Records. Melodically twee but emotionally resonant rock is the order du jour – spidery, tremolo-laden guitar heroics feature heavily on Anagram and Wall of Sound production helps add definition to the spare Just Friends.
Although Barnes’ weightless vocals and Thomas’ overall pop bent would typically indicate a more upbeat mood, feelings of paranoia and distrust permeate the recordings. Lyrical topics include social invisibility, the uncertainty of memory, and the erasure of identity: the subject of Anagram is a person who “want[s] to be someone no one could forget” but is instead a bland “anagram” of others they’ve met, while Barnes’ lover on Just Friends is someone she is “ashamed” to be involved with but whom she will disintegrate without. The best moments are when the honeyed melodies and the somber lyrics intersect, like the slight detour into dissonance on Anagram.
The Anagram / Just Friends single is now available on 7″ vinyl on Antiquated Future Records.
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