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If I had to sum this one up in one word... "Wow!"

Prior to this review I had heard of Cloud Cult before (see our review of The Meaning of 8 in the August 2007 issue of music-reviewer.com), but I hadn't actually heard them play.  To be honest, I was attracted to the artwork on the cover of Feel Good Ghosts (Tea Partying through Tornadoes) -- a shot of the band enjoying a spot of tea as not one or two, but three funnel clouds roar ominously on the horizon.  The cover mesmerized me and I popped it in for a quick listen.  Before I knew what hit me, I was halfway through the fourteen songs and suddenly mesmerized by the Cloud Cult sound.

I'll be honest: I'm stuck in another time musically, so I'm not familiar with Modest Mouse, Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire or any of the other bands Cloud Cult is compared to.  I don't know if that is a good or bad thing with regard to this review, but at least you, the Constant Reader, will know that my opinion is not corrupted by any of these other artists.  Simply put, I love this band!  I can't stop listening -- and when I do actually stop, the songs play on in my head, almost to the point of annoyance.  The music is quirky and intense: wildly indie rock and intense one moment, densely orchestrated and layered the next.  The lyrics are mostly spot-on; it's not enough to sing along, I want to know what they mean -- and that goes a long way toward keeping this one in rotation long after the review requirements have been met!

Cloud Cult, like many of today's up and coming bands, is very eco-conscious. While I can't say I'm completely on board with their movement, in doing my research I am impressed with their dedication to the cause.  In my opinion the world today is full of people who are more intersted in talking the talk than walking the walk and 'do as I say, not as I do' turns out to be the message beneath the message of most movements, political or otherwise.  Read the liner notes on Feel Good Ghosts and see just how far Cloud Cult has gone to create a completely eologically neutral CD.  No matter where your political leanings come down, you have to give these guys props for standing up for what they believe in.  My hat is off to them!

Overall, Feel Good Ghosts is just about perfect.  There's only one out of the fourteen short-ish tracks that doesn't really fit with the rest, and that's the only reason this one isn't getting the perfect ten.  And don't get me wrong, The Ghosts Inside Your House is not a bad song -- and from the Feel Good Ghosts perspective, it fits in with the theme, it just doesn't have the same intensity as the rest.  Kind of a calm spot in the middle of a cyclone, to stick with the motif... this one sounds like it would be more at home on one of the prior Cloud Cult albums.

But enough about that.

Feel Good Ghosts is interesting right off the bat with the piano intro and its odd time signatures, building into No One Said it Would Be Easy, which sets the frenetic pace for the rest of the disc.  I love the way they take a very simple theme, quiet and unassuming, and turn it into a sonic boom that'll blow the roof off the house.  A perfect example of this tactic is When Water Comes to Life which starts off with a very pretty, mellow string arrangement and builds to an explosive, indie masterpiece.  The Will of a Volcano is another, less subtle example of this 'making something out of nothing' approach.  And while I'm on the subject of The Will of a Volcano, another thing I really love about Cloud Cult is the way they can take a simple lyric and build sonic greatness around it.  "You have a precious little mind/You paint a perfect little rainbow/You will make this right/You have the will of a volcano." It is repeated over and over as the song builds from a simple accordian and drum riff to a cacophony that sounds so fucking great on a high end stereo I can't even find words to do it justice!  But then, in the same simple lyrical fashion, the next song brings things back down to Earth.  "I love my mother/I love my father/When it's my time to go/I need You to know/I love you all."  That's it, kind of cheesy in and of its own right, but the song is so delicate and beautiful in its arrangement I can even forgive the annoying digitized vocals that accompany all but the last stanza, which is sung so honestly, I can almost be overcome by emotion every single time.

But Cloud Cult is not all about songs crafted around a simple one-liner.  As a matter of fact, Craig Minowa's lyrics are often.. well.. brilliant.  My favorite track lyrically is Story of the Grandson of Jesus, which is just a flat-out amazing track all the way around, but especially in the words: "He stood on his soapbox and told us a parable/of a man with eye-glasses so small they're unwearable/and the moral of the story is that it all looks terrible/depending on what you look through."  Brilliant!

Minowa's voice to my ears sounds like a cross between Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and, at times, Perry Farrell. I don't necessarily hear a whole lot of influence from either of those artists, but hey... it's just a comparison.  No matter what it sounds like though, I like his voice. A lot. 

And I like the rest of this band, also a lot.  In fact, there is just nothing really to say that isn't wildly positive about Cloud Cult.  I've taken some time to familiarize myself with some of their previous releases.  My experience with the 'older stuff' (they've released five albums in the last five years for God sake!) is limited, but I think Feel Good Ghosts represents their most mature, focused work.  That's not to take anything away from the work though -- this is definitely a catalog I'm going to be hearing a lot more of!

I could go on and on, gushing like an infatuated school girl, but I'll end as I began. 

Wow!  Get this.