Clor

I mentioned Clor a couple of posts back and I think it's about time I stuck up a bit of a sample.

Clor are now sadly no more. They lasted one self-titled album and a couple of singles/EPs. The first time I heard of them I had just missed them soundchecking at Liverpool Zanzibar. My own band was due to play before them later that night. Everybody in the venue; the promoters, the other bands, Andy the sound guy (best/nicest live engineer i've ever come across) were all completely awestruck by the spectacle they had just witnessed. From a soundcheck. Unfortunately though, when people gush at me about bands I tend to become super cynical, so I was apprehensive.

After our set, Clor singer/guitarist Barry came and paid us compliments and was generally really nice, then went to set up. I hadn't prepared myself for what I was about to see. From what i'd been told I expected some slightly cheesy band doing their best to shoehorn electronica into rock music. Or maybe some jeans and a fringe yelping to a disco beat. Either way, I was completely wrong.

It became one of those occasions when, out of the blue, a whole new angle on music is suddenly unveiled for you. When you were just getting jaded by it's lack of invention and you experience something that makes you feel stupid for ever doubting it. I couldn't control my grinning muscles as the band tore through my preconceptions with a knowing smile and ball of sound. Pop tunes, sardonic lyrics, intricate guitar lines, electro beats, synth spurts. Guitar music and electro intertwined like they'd never been apart, and not a haircut in sight. It completely changed my image of what a band could be. So when my own band disintegrated and became just me, it made me feel like absolutely anything was still possible.

Apparently it was good old 'musical differences' that drove the two key members (Barry Dobbin and Luke Smith) of Clor apart. I'm sad that i'll never see them live again, the sound was never quite replicated on record. But it's good to know their output could never be tarnished by weaker follow-ups or collaborations with Bono, and we can only be grateful for that.

Mp3:
Clor - 'Tough Love' (amazing b-side to the Love & Pain single).

Buy their album here.