“The Dark Clouds are a guitar rock band from the relatively nondescript Australian city of Wollongong. The “nondescript” tag is meant in the nicest possible way. The ‘Gong used to be a rough and ready, blue-collar, rock and roll town. (I know, I used to hang out there.) Now the heavy industry is mostly gone and it’s being gentrified. A few rough edges remain, but its status as a fertile rock and roll breeding ground is being steadily chipped away. The short geography lesson is important because it goes to the heart of why bands like The Dark Clouds are important. No matter how much blandness and homogenisation is foisted on us, how many live music venues are shut or emasculated or how many mind-numbing reality TV talent shows are injected into our lives, we need to hang onto the remnants of things that matter. The Dark Clouds will remind you that rock and roll is one of them. The Dark Clouds play hard rock anthems in work boots. They’re hippies at heart with lyrical call-outs to environmentalism and social justice, and their weapons are stringed and amplified.”

“The Dark Clouds are one hell of a refreshing, spiky, mesh’n’wings rock band who promise … a long, crush-kill-destroy career. They’re forceful, sound like they’re having a blast and don’t care if you don’t like it. They’re the kind of band the neighbours come round to complain about the noise of their rehearsals … and then start drinking and dancing. ”