Review Summary: The weather girl is listening, Jack; she’s just waiting.
If there’s one thing that Jack Anthony has proven over the years of his career as a musician, it’s that he will always have the capability to write a downright enjoyable punk song. Issues come into play, however, when he finds himself writing the same song over and over. Anthony was noticeably infected with this unfortunate disease that plagues copious amounts of performing acts around the globe ever since his 2005 EP simply titled
The Untitled EP. Thankfully, his latest offering
Cue the Clouds acts as a type of cure to this musical disease. Still, we all know that nothing is cured overnight.
Cue the Clouds, while still a very solid record that truly exemplifies his maturity as a musician, is just step one of many that Jack Anthony will have to climb in order to write another album that will be as exciting from start to finish as his 2003 debut,
Disaster.
For those of you who have heard Jack Anthony’s music before: if you were to imagine him playing a set of new songs on an acoustic guitar rather than an electric, this is exactly what you would hear.
Cue the Clouds is a collection of mainly acoustic songs; the electric guitar, bass guitar, and any signs of percussion are all banished, and the use of violins and keyboards are introduced. This comes across as interesting at first, and will probably remain interesting for those familiar to Jack Anthony, but quickly begins to run dry after a sequence of heavy-hearted tunes jam-packed at the start of the album. “A Minor Inconvenience,” which takes place halfway through the album, ironically serves a convenient purpose as it is the first sense of diversity
Cue the Clouds has to offer. The constant acoustic strums are mixed in with melodic picking and the majority of the vocals are performed by guest vocalist Seth Barnes with hints of Anthony’s cries audible during the choruses. From this point on, the album becomes slightly more interesting. “So What?,” for example, takes on an environment similar to that of a slow song with its supportive piano notes and a soft yet intense acoustic intro that gradually progresses into something more exciting. In spite of its length, “The Weather Girl” is quite possibly the most interesting song on
Cue the Clouds. Its upbeat chords and fun lyrics that at times come across as silly, though for the most part remain witty and intriguing, easily make it the type of song you would play for your friends as you’re sitting around a campfire.
For an album that lacks a number of necessary special surprises or changeups,
Cue the Clouds is an overall entertaining effort. Anthony’s Green Day influences are still ever apparent here regardless of the fact that the “hard”-punk level is at a minimum. The vocals often bear a striking resemblance to those of Billie Joe Armstrong’s, though mostly in style.
Cue the Clouds isn’t a record that should be taken lightly, for it is most likely going to prove itself important to the future Jack Anthony’s discography. Hopefully in the near future, we will see Jack Anthony return to the studio with a mind full of variety and brand new ideas that he will be ready to unleash upon us.
Highlights:
The Weather Girl
So What?
Like Rain
Vexation Vacation
