Album Review: Napoleon Of Temperance

Mixing the intoxicated tone of Tom Waits, the incoherent babbling of Wesley Willis and Daniel Johnston's fractured pop, Dave Cloud's star could've shone as brightly as any of his contemporaries. That is, if he had ever left his home state of Nashville.

This may all be about to change for, in April, Cloud left Nashville for the first time and toured Europe with his band, The Gospel of Power, a contingent of caballeros that includes members of Lambchop and Clem Snide.

Matching this bold move, and having recently signed to Fire Records, Cloud releases a new album, Napoleon Of Temperance this June. To familiarise a European audience who might not have previously heard of Cloud, the new album includes his two previous albums in their entirety and throws in a few entirely new tracks for good measure. The result is a colossal 45-track, double CD.

Whether he's playfully toying with Herman's Hermits' I'm Into Something Good or telling of his love for a Honda Superhawk on Motorcycle, Cloud's compulsion is to make noise and play with words with unabashed salaciousness. It's also clear that Cloud savours delivering his words dramatically, as he mixes the raspy tone of an old-time Southern hipster with the elocution of a competent voice-over artist.

Furthermore, despite surrounding himself with musicians as talented as Tony Crow, Matt Swanson and Matt Bach for the recording of Napoleon Of Temperance, Cloud clearly enjoys using his vocal chords as an instrument in their own right. Consequently, two distinct vocals chase each other through Save The Last Dance For Me and three voices speak and sing their way through a variety of riffs on Booty Shoe II.

Cloud also explores the unique qualities of his voice, settling on particularly rich notes or slow vibratos (notably when covering War's All Day Music) or simply playing with the effect created by repeating single words on album opener Vixen... Vixen... Fox... Fox. At the conclusion of the second disc, Evil Dracula Man permits Cloud the chance to attempt B-movie vampire voices.

The production has clearly been done on a shoestring, but while Cloud has absorbed the punk ethic of raggedness, he hasn't absorbed the rage. Indeed, there's a degree of mischief about the entire album, but no more so when Cloud is tackling other artists' songs. He mangles K.C. & The Sunshine Band's Get Down Tonight with a series of Casio drones, but he also croons his way through Gamble & Huff's Me & Mrs. Jones, The Rolling Stones' Let's Spend The Night Together and David Bowie's Moonage Daydream. The Beach Boys' Warmth of the Sun, Bob Dylan's Lay, Lady, Lay, Irving Berlin's Heatwave and a pair of Bee Gees' hits ( (Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away and a string-laden version of How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?) also receive a twisted make-over.