Cloud Nothings, The Courtneys, and Rosali drive Union Transfer with sound and light

Cloud Nothings at Union Transfer | photo by Scott Troyan

Cloud Nothings with The Courtneys and Rosali played Union Transfer on December 4th, 2018. Leading off was Philadelphia’s Rosali, solo project of Rosali Middleman.

Fresh off the release of sophomore album Trouble Anyway, Rosali’s country-tinged set softly seized the attention of the early arrivals.

Middleman, backed by her Middlemen – guitarists Gerhardt Koerner, Mike Sobel, Bradford Bucknum, bassist Daniel Provenzano, and drummer Mike Sneeringer – filled the room (and the stage) with a sometimes swirling but always steady sound anchored always by the cool resolve that steels her performance and lyrics.

Rosali at Union Transfer by Scott Troyan.Joining the band to close out their set was local guitar darling Paul Sukeena (who played on Trouble Anyway and boasts other credits are too numerous to list, including former psych rock outfit Spacin’; he was last seen on this stage as the bolo-tied guitarist in Angel Olsen’s touring band), his final performance as a Philadelphian before departing for the west coast.

Next was the grunge-cloaked pop of the The Courtneys. Where Rosali kept a cool distance from her trouble, The Courtneys strapped on their hearts and aimed straight for the sun.

Drummer Jen Twynn Payne and bassist Sydney Koke traded vocals about loves lost and loves never had over Courtney Garvin’s fuzzy riffs.

I spent most of The Courtneys’ set talking about The Courtneys with friends in the audience – “They’re on Flying Nun but not from New Zealand” – or – “Yeah the song’s called ‘Minnesota’ but they’re from Canada” – and –  “No, only one of them is actually named Courtney”.

Keep their 2017 effort, II, handy when the dread of winter starts to set in and you need a shot of sunlight.

Touring in support of the just released Last Building Burning, Cloud Nothings tore through the album in its entirety to close the night. Their set was a frenzy fueled by Dylan Baldi’s shrieks and Jayson Gerycz’s relentless drums.