#mighty clouds

12/3/25.

It was less than 6 months ago that Michigan's Idle Ray received their first post here. Idle Ray is one of the many projects featuring Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good To Me, Mighty Clouds).

This 7" features some leftovers from the recording session that produced their most recent LP, "Even in the Spring". I'm not sure who wrote the liner notes for this 7", but Dinosaur Jr and Pavement (specifically Slanted and Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain era) are mentioned as touchstones.

6/23/25.

I'm not sure why this didn't get a post when it came out. I certainly remember listening to it, and frankly, ANY Fred Thomas project is likely to get a post on the weight of that fact alone.

Idle Ray (Michigan) definitely sounds like Fred Thomas. It's not the 60s/fuzzy/pop of Saturday Looks Good To Me or Mighty Clouds. But it's much more traditionally pop than some of his solo efforts (Fred Thomas, City Center) - in fact, one Bandcamp user said, "Like a classic FT record ran through a Guided By Voices filter".

5/9/24.

I used to listen non-stop to Saturday Looks Good To Me. Honestly, one of the negatives of doing this blog is that while chasing a new band, I often don't listen as much to music in my stacks.

Mighty Clouds came a long and allowed me to achieve both a blog post and a SLGTM listening party. Mighty Clouds is Fred Thomas and Betty Marie Barnes from SLGTM. The 1960s Motown feel is still here, as are the amazing melodies that were the hallmark of the best work from SLGTM.