Clone - CL. 1
Brooklyn post-punk outfit Clone presents their debut 'CL. 1' album, just in time for the summer solstice. Released via Portland label Little Cloud Records and North Carolina's 5BC Records, this is an album born from a seemingly lost wellspring of shared imagination and a youthful transformative power.
Their sonic exploration, once a private refuge, now invites all. Earlier, the band shared caustic excellence in the iconoclastic singles 'Dividing Line', 'Immutable' and 'Redeemer', each igniting a fire for change.
'CL.1' is a phenomenal debut album – a truly impressive first outing. Recorded and mixed by NYC legendary producer Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, Brian Eno, John Zorn, Herbie Hancock, Iggy Pop, Helmet, Dresden Dolls) at his famed BC Studio, built by Brian Eno. Co-produced by Bisi and LG Galleon, this record was mastered by Fred Kevorkian (The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, Juliana Hatfield, Pharaoh Sanders, Regina Spektor, Cassandra Wilson, Lloyd Cole).
One of the most exciting new post-punk bands on the scene these days, each member of Clone is of strong musical lineage. Dead Leaf Echo frontman LG Galleon is joined by NYC musicians Gregg Giufree (Pilot to Gunner), Max Idas and Dominick Turi. Today, their live line-up includes Paul Liziragga (Namesake) and Alex Cox (The Veldt).
Clone's music is evocative, in ethos and ambition, of a time when music still could change lives. Their lyrics involve the struggles and critiques of the working person's daily life. The bands started playing shows in 2019, building their fanbase organically, brick by brick, word of their incendiary live shows spreading. Each time they play, more are won over.
"We had been rehearsing and writing the material all through the very end of Trump's first term, having started the band right before COVID hit. Taking a leering look down on class systems via politicized punk rock always seems appropriate, but we had no idea that the first day of tracking at Martin Bisi's studio (BC Studios) would coincide with the results of the new election. We rehearsed the songs in Bushwick but the studio was in Gowanus (30 min away) so everyday I woke up and got on the bike to the studio for overdubs. But the first day was different - in the excitement of the election having gone deep into the night (after sleep had overtaken), we awoke to cheers of excitement," says LG Galleon.
"I went to my local barista and asked for my normal and was handed a bottle of tequila. No time for coffee, the celebrations had already started. Emotions were running high and optimistic and it carried over into the studio. We quickly delivered the material over to Martin during the next two days and overdubs followed shortly after. A feeling of writing the songs in desperation near the end of his term made for a feeling of release; albeit we knew it was a pyrrhic victory in the moment. COVID and life would mean we'd lose two of the original members when they left New York, but there will always be the feeling we had there in that moment on Election Day. It's interesting that now that this material is being released, Round 2 looms in the very near future, bringing back all those same fierce feelings of retribution once more."
Clone is a unit of its parts. Egalitarian in their writing process, songs are built upon inchoate sparks offered by any member, letting the jams run free in their rehearsal space until there’s a complete song, guided by the alchemy of intuition. There’s no rule book here, and no one defining member, but there is a palpable chemistry.
Rooted in belief in its galvanizing, redemptive power, the kind which used to be written for the lonely and the scarred and the diffident (before something truly was lost), something deeply enmeshed within the human psyche that could be shared. Clone are fitfully reclaiming this, which at its crux, is the imagination of youth. Captured vividly here, their private universe of sonic exploration is now open to all.
On June 21, the 'CL. 1' album will be released as a 12" vinyl LP, featuring an impressive black and white mix, and as a digital download everywhere, including Apple Music, Spotify. and Bandcamp.
