There is very little music that has come out of my region of the country that has inspired me to proudly wear its influence on my sleeve or to incorporate its touchstones into my own style, so it’s difficult for me to know kinship with “the locals.” Portland’s Bear Clouds offer a bit of praise and acknowledgment to the PNW on their home page, and when I listen to their music, I understand what that local kinship must feel like.
Bear Clouds’ contribution to Ball of Wax 57, “With Us,” is full of declarations, from its firm and fulgent post-rock bassline to the straight-and-steady percussion that doubles down at the midpoint to the excellently-delayed guitar bits to Larren Wolford’s perfectly plaintive croon matter-of-factly describing a bit of a mess before asking, half-hopefully and half-knowingly, “there’s nothing wrong with us, is there?”
Or is he asking? In the same way the music carrying “With Us” resonates with my desire for regional pride, Wolford’s one-sided dialogue resonates a little too strongly with my own experiences navigating the treacheries of humans in a relationship being humans in a relationship. And so I stand by my claim: despite ending with a request for confirmation, “there’s nothing wrong with us” is meant as a statement. Half-hoping, half-knowing, but a statement nonetheless. In the same way Bear Clouds’ kick-ass rhythm section declares itself in every beat, Wolford’s narrator seeks to affirm through sheer will and audible evocation.
Don’t believe me? Just listen to the phrase’s last appearance in the song (provided you can shake yourself free from the sheer emotion of Wolford’s wail). There it is.