CLOAKROOM + El Shirota + Wet Pet

Duck Club Presents

CLOAKROOM

with El Shirota and Wet Pet

Wednesday, November 9th

at THE OLYMPIC

$13 adv / $15 door

7:00pm doors / 8:00pm show

21+ (valid ID required)

Cloakroom

From beyond the Spire and the Ward of Song echoes Cloakroom’s tertiary LP, Dissolution Wave.

It’s like this: The concept of Cloakroom’s third album is a space western in which an act of theoretical physics—the dissolution wave—wipes out all of humanity’s existing art and abstract thought. In order to keep the world spinning on its axis, songsmiths must fill the ether with their compositions. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Spire and Ward of Song act as a filter for human imagination: Only the best material can pass through the filter and keep the world turning.

This is the philosophical universe that Cloakroom guitarist/vocalist Doyle Martin conceived as a way of processing the last few years. “We lost a couple of close friends over the course of writing this record,” he says. “Dreaming up another world felt easier to digest than the real nitty-gritty we’re immersed in every day.”

With lyrics based on an imagined cosmology, Dissolution Wave also marks a grand expansion of Cloakroom’s dreamy space-rock palette. “We often get lumped in with stoner rock bands—and I love that,” bassist Bobby Markos offers, “but at the same time, we can do an acoustic set. If we wanted to make a song completely out of synthesizers, we could. So our approach to Dissolution Wave was to do everything we’ve ever wanted to do.”

You’ll hear it in the album’s first single, “A Force At Play.” Written from the perspective of the album’s protagonist—an asteroid miner who writes songs by night—the track has an airy pastoral feel, almost like a modern equivalent of the Byrds’ gorgeous 1968 departure album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

“The miner is talking about ‘bottling lightning beams,’ which is a new take on the old music industry term ‘lightning in a bottle,’ which can pertain to a fire ass track or a good bottle of homemade booze,” Martin points out. “As you can imagine, bottling lightning is a pretty hard thing to do.”

The melancholy title track captures the miner’s regret as they lament that they signed up for such a long stint on the job, while closer “Dissembler” describes their anxiety about the revelator who will judge their work. “If you don’t write a good enough song in this universe, you run the risk of being forgotten and lose the opportunity to return as a meaningful form of life,” Martin explains.

Essentially, the system is a karmic wheel measured by the worth of a song. “Can this existential dread be applied to our own world and mirror some Sanskrit cosmologies?” Martin posits. “As far as a cyclic existence and the actual fear of death processed by human abstraction are concerned, one hundred percent yes.”

Dissolution Wave is Cloakroom’s first album with drummer Tim Remis (also of SweetCobra), who joined in 2019. “Even though we’d already been a band for seven years at that point, adding Tim made it feel all new again,” Markos says. “He brought a whole new songwriting dynamic to the band.”

The bulk of the album was recorded in December 2019 at Earth Analog in Tolono, Illinois, the same studio where Cloakroom recorded their 2015 debut, Further Out. Subsequent overdub sessions were done at various Chicago studios. The album was engineered by the band’s longtime soundman (and Markos’ childhood friend), Zac Montez.

As fate would have it, Dissolution Wave’s release in early 2022 will align with Cloakroom’s tenth anniversary as a band.

El Shirota

El Shirota is a noise rock/indie band from Atizapán, Estado de México.

Formed in 2012 by Ignacio Gómez, Mauricio Avendaño and Alonso Salamanca, its current lineup is conformed by Gabriel Mendoza (drums), Rubén Anzaldúa (guitar, vocals), Mauricio Avendaño (bass, vocals) and Ignacio Gómez Kurth (guitar, vocals).

After its foundation in 2012, the band debuted in 2013 with “Chiluca No Es Satélite EP”. Prior to the release of their first full-length material ‘Tiempos Raros’ (Devil In The Woods, 2020), the band self-released two EPs and later the singles “Carreta Furacão” and “Tarde/Temprano”. The Mexican quartet is currently promoting ‘Niebla EP’, their most recent release out on 7” vinyl via Devil In The Woods. The EP highlights the participation of Alonso Salamanca (former bassist of the band) in “Tibio ft. Alo”, the B-side of the album and the band’s first exploration between electronic music and its already characteristic sound.

El Shirota has made international media appearances such as in KEXP Live 90.3 FM (Seattle, WA), Reactor 105.7 (CDMX), Aire Libre 105.3 (CDMX), KXSF 102.5 FM (San Francisco), NPR, Flood Magazine, The Chicago Reader, Remezcla (Brooklyn, NY), and international festivals like Ruido Fest 2021 (Chicago, IL), NRMAL 2019 (CDMX), Freakout Fest 2019 (Seattle, WA) and Treefort Music Festival 2021 (Boise, Idaho). The Mexican outfit has toured across the United States several times, most recently in 2021 around the west coast and through cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Tucson, Phoenix, Nashville, Lousiville, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, Boise, Reno, Fullerton and Santa Ana.

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FAQs

When does the first band start playing?

Typically the first band starts 1 hour after doors open.

Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event?

Yes, this is a 21+ venue. Valid ID required for entry.

Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?

If you have any questions, please email info@theduckclub.com