Crack Cloud in Leeds review: Canadian punk rockers channel The Clash and Gang of Four at Brudenell Social Club
It was on Bonfire Night 2022 that I first went to see Crack Cloud at the behest of a mate at the Brudenell Social Club and found myself compelled to the front of the stage to throw myself among the manic throng.
Now, nearly two years later, the same thing happened again.
I tried to keep it together and maintain a more critical eye but the Canadian outfit’s visceral shock of punk, funk, jazz, Afrobeat and all things in-between is quite irresistible.
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The group were returning to a venue that they have frequented on three subsequent returns to Leeds - and it’s a relationship that you can imagine stretches deeper than aesthetic and musical camaraderie.
Crack Cloud were formed in Calgary as an outlet for drug addicts and those suffering with mental health issues and the band - or collective - continues to expand and experiment with an ever revolving cast of musicians and visual artists. It’s something you can image chimes with the Brudenell’s own DIY, community-empowering ethos.
At the heart of it is drummer, lyricist and singer Zac Choy whose eye-bulging intensity and technical mastery is something to behold. Lyrically as well his insightful, trite and compelling meanderings on grief, addiction and art are gripping.
The show starts with the first three songs from their latest album ‘Red Kite’, which has a more brooding and traditional approach to punk rock than they have previously played with; only further adding to my suspicions that he may be Joe Strummer’s reincarnation.
My mate, who is a serial behester, reckons that they may be playing the record all the way through but as soon as the rolling, cerebral grift of Empty Cell starts I’m lost again and am jumping, shouting and dancing around to Nat Philipps’s head-spinning saxophone and the heady cacophony of it all.
The show is a compelling watch throughout; with Philosopher’s Calling and its diamond-cutting, Gang Of Four-esque guitar lines from Will Choy being another high point.
The rip-roaring Costly Engineered Illusion, performed with gusto on this video I’ve obsessed over, also ushers in bedlam before the band are demanded back to the stage for a booze-drenched encore.