Written by: Dave Cantrell

Many things never cease to amaze us here at SEM not least of which is the extent to which history, while not exactly repeating itself, does nonetheless rather frequently rhyme. While that may seem a bit obtuse if not flippant, allow me to explain. As some longtime readers may know, your correspondent has been deeply involved in the current-day post-punk/darkwave renaissance that has been moving with constantly gaining speed in its usual myriad directions (post-punk in its original incarnation, for which this writer also had a front row seat seeing as he was 23 years old in 1979, was, beyond the sheer power of the music emanating from all corners, known for its fierce and restless variance of style and tone) since 2010 at least, hosting a weekly radio show on XRAY out of Portland OR that covers the scene’s ever-expanding frontiers as well as being the unofficial “post-punk professor” here at SEM as per founder Alex Green. Anyway, out of that radio show – Songs From Under the Floorboard – a yearly festival evolved in the mid twenty-teens, running full steam ahead until covid shut it down. Called the Out From The Shadows festival, it grew from a single night in 2015 to three nights almost immediately and hosted over ninety-three bands over that span and while they were all amazing and to some degree transcendent in their own ways, the last full one in 2019 stands out and among the bands that year? Dead Leaf Echo.

While familiar to me to some degree (not intensely so but I’d heard them) there was no possible way to anticipate the impact Dead Leaf Echo’s appearance had on me and the audience on April 9th, 2019. Passionate and passionately intelligent, hooks and melodies flying around like a shower of sparks expressed in sound, they were, to put it bluntly, a fucking revelation and you can confirm that with anyone that was there, I very much doubt they’ve forgotten nor ever will. So, how does that relate to today’s album premiere? Well, fronting that smart, incendiary band from Brooklyn was one LG Galleon, who, beyond being that level of inspired artist one always hopes to meet, was also unfailingly cool and polite, with zero airs, which is to say as grounded as anyone I met during those years. Thus, with all that buzzing about in my head, was I stoked to hear that LG had a new project called Clone and that their debut album CL.1 was in the hands of one of the publicists I’ve known the longest and who sent me the album as soon as she had it before graciously offering SEM this premiere, and, really, it’s hard to think of a pre-released download that has moved me more than CL.1 did immediately upon hearing it. From the gorgeously sharp and poignant yearn and charge of opening track “Room of Tears” through the headlong head (and heart) rush of “Dividing Line,”  “Redeemer” with its sense of, well, redemption rolling in over the horizon like a storm of joy and revelation (oh that I was exaggerating) through closer “Resurrection” that, for this listener anyway, is pretty much the sonic representation of its title so bursting is it with undying belief in the power of what’s possible, the fact is I don’t expect to have my breath taken more away by a first (or second, or third) listen to a new – and especially debut – album this year and, to be fair to all the other albums released through the rest of 2024, I really shouldn’t, and primarily that’s down to just how much this debut strikes those same, umm, chords first struck on my young, dumbfounded and helplessy captivated heart back there in 1979.

Now, at this point in a piece like this, it’s of course customary for the writer to offer up some tidy conclusion and send everyone happily to the attached sound files which I was well prepared to do but seeing as Galleon himself was kind enough to offer an in-depth personal take of his own, I will graciously step aside and let him take the editorial stage and provide this preview’s coda as it’s always wisest, in our view, to let the artist, if they’re willing, talk about their own art and the histories, the inspirations, the circumstances behind it. That said, absolutely do be sure to hit that SoundCloud link down below. We ain’t kidding when we say you won’t regret it but believe us you will deeply regret it if you don’t. (and since we know what kind of impact that will likely have, here’s the Bandcamp purchase link to the album and here‘s the Clone store link) [Clone photo: Sylvia Saponaro]

“We had been rehearsing and writing the material all thru the very end of Trump’s first term. Starting the band right before COVID hit. The songs here reflect a distrust for the rich and their entitlements. Taking a leering look down on class systems via politicized punk rock always seems appropriate, but we had no idea that once we booked the sessions at Martin’s (Bisi) studio (BC Studios) that the first day of tracking would take place on the results of the new election. We rehearsed the songs in Bushwick but the studio was in Gowanus 30 min away so everyday it was wake up and get on the bike to the studio for overdubs but the first day was different and in the excitement of the election having gone deep into the night after sleep had overtaken we awoken to cheers of excitement. Hitting the streets small parades formed and chants of “we won” broke out. Begrudgingly laughing, silly fits of temporary happiness mixed with the despair of”business as usual” quickly ran through my head, I would have to take Biden for one day in stride as a victory. I went to my local barista and asked for my normal and was handed a bottle of tequila. No time for coffee, the celebrations had already started. Emotions were running high and optimistic and it carried over into the studio. We quickly delivered the material over to Martin during the next 2 days and OD’s followed shortly after. A feeling of writing the songs in desperation near the end of his term made for a feeling of release albeit we knew it was a pyrrhic victory in the moment. COVID and life would later remove two of the original members out of New York but there will always be the feeling we had there in that moment on Election Day. Interesting that now that this material is being released, Round 2 looms in the very near future bringing back all those same fierce feelings of retribution once more. – LG // Clone