Being friends first and bandmates second can be key to a band’s longevity, as the members of cerebral Nashville punk trio Sallow know. Singer-guitarist Maddy Madeira, bassist David Reichley and drummer Shibby Poole are so tight they actually play in a whole other band together: the hardcore combo Thirdface, with Drkmttr founder Kathryn Edwards on vocals and Madeira and Reichley switching instruments. Since Madeira and Poole founded Sallow in 2014 with bassist Don Chambliss (who left in ’16), the group has self-released two tapes, plus a seven-inch split with Reichley’s former band Watcher. Poole — also the intrepid axman in alt-metal heavyweights Yautja and political noisemongers Husband Stitch — records and mixes a substantial amount of local punk-leaning music, which includes Sallow’s forthcoming album Cloud of Thought.
The LP's nine songs draw on fundamental indie rock like Blonde Redhead, Sebadoh and Shellac — the recording features an impressive facsimile of Steve Albini’s trademark punchy drum sound — but add wrinkles of the band’s own. The chiming, clanging guitar-and-bass interplay occupies a Goldilocks zone between dissonant and melodic; the kinetic drumming is full of creative fills in unexpected places. In the tradition of another great artsy punk three-piece, Northwest legends Unwound, vocals often function as a fourth instrument, ebbing and flowing with the cacophony and going long stretches without coming up for air.
The standout “Claw,” however, inverts the quiet-to-loud-and-back formula. The verses push confidently forward, then the rhythm section drops out to focus in on Madeira, alone with guitar, confronting a former friend for something unspecified, but unforgivable. “You took away my life and now I feel so cold,” she sings, later describing the relationship as something she “had to claw [her] way out of.” This pattern repeats three times, leading to a sweeping half-time instrumental coda that effectively conveys light at the end of the tunnel of a traumatic experience. It’s a tremendous track that haunts you long past its four-minute runtime.
If this were the late ’90s or early Aughts, Cloud of Thought’s intriguing blend of noise-rock grit, post-hardcore precision, emo-core vulnerability and doom-metal murkiness would’ve been catnip for labels like Olympia’s Kill Rock Stars or D.C.’s Simple Machines. Here in 2020, however, it’s still looking for a home — write the band at sallowtn [at] gmail [dot] com if you have any ideas. Hear “Claw” and read my interview with Madeira below.
Tell me a bit about how Sallow arrived at its sound.
The first couple years were spent writing a lot and figuring [it] out. The early recordings … are very reflective of my life at the time — confused and frantic, often indecisive. After David [joined], Sallow started growing into the band I wanted it to be: darker and heavier, bitter and sad as ever, but more organized and grounded … a pretty solid unit. I love being in a band with people I genuinely enjoy spending time with, and that closeness and comfort informs the music.
When did you start working on Cloud of Thought, and when was it completed?
We first recorded it in 2017 but none of us ended up satisfied with it. We gave it another shot in 2018 after rehearsing more and reassessing how we wanted it to sound, and took our time mixing and mastering it. This record took for-fucking-ever to make, but the end result is something I’m really proud of.
What was the recording experience like?
Shibby recorded and mixed the album, and did it all in the garage. … The vibe is always low-pressure, since we know we won’t be wasting anyone’s time but our own. [laughs]
What has the band been up to since finishing the record?
We’re trying to shop it around, but it’s a weird time. I want it to find a proper home so we can move on to the next phase. We’ve been taking a break from writing and touring until Cloud of Thought comes out, but I’m already thinking about the next record.
What’s “Claw" about?
“Claw” describes a toxic friendship that ended in a way that was traumatic for me. This person took advantage of my trust, manipulating me at a time when I was vulnerable until he got what he wanted, and the aftermath left me broken and empty. I knew I had to figure out how to move on, heal and grow … to not feel like a burnt-out lightbulb forever. This is actually [my] third song about this person. In the first I blame myself, the second describes what happened. … “Claw” is a more zoomed-out perspective, depicting the friendship’s beginning and end, then acknowledging to myself that I’m here and I’m healing.
