With a name like Cloud Cult and some admittedly somewhat slightly mad-looking musicians, the band packs a sound that is more affable and subtle in tone than anything else. But here’s a fairly diverse and well-schooled group of virtuosos — it’s almost as if Julliard had a mental ward, and these seven had just managed to escape their straitjackets, get loose on the streets and find themselves a studio.

Whatever’s in a name, the band’s music is an altogether different animal, a brand of eclectic indie-folk that is closer to sweet and saccharine than anything crazy or cult-ish. It could prove to be an endearing formula for the band: The Denver Post recently ranked The Number of 8, their latest opus, along with Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips’ albums, as among the very best of the past decade. If you’re into either, you’ll probably dig the group’s as-of-now undefined sound. Kind of a bonus is Cloud Cult’s how Cloud Cult manages to convey a message through their actions as well : as part of a growing number of environmentally-friendly indie acts, the band has planted over a thousand trees, printed their album inlay with soy ink and on recycled paper. Available now is a double disc reissue of two albums lead singer Craig Minowa wrote during a self-imposed lock-up in a studio on his organic farm in Minnesota. They Live on the Sun and Aurora Borealis, two albums which earned them critical acclaim from Pitchfork and Pop Matters.

Cloud Cult – Breakfast With My Shadow

Words by Jeff Nau