Cloud Nothings:Attack on Memory

     
          Carpark; 2012
          Dropped by Travis Sturgill-Trahan

Up until now, Cloud Nothings have taken an unusual course. Initially a solo basement gig, Dylan Baldi found himself the talk of the blogosphere with the tongue-in-cheek lo-fi jingle “Hey Cool Kid,” and the equally lo-fi title track of his first collection of recordings “Turning On.” The compilation brought Baldi moderate exposure, prompted him to drop out of college and saw him hand pick a supporting cast to tour and record with. Quickly discovering the plug-and-chug formula for pop-punk hooks and using it to his full advantage, their self-titled debut LP was out within three months of Turning On.

Cloud Nothings was yet another step forward, as Dylan shifted through a library of prior self-recordings, finding old riffs and raising the dead. The album displayed what Cloud Nothings was meant to sound like–bottled energy, clean hooks, and catchy morsels, all under the generous supervision of their lo-fi beginnings.

All of that being said, Attack on Memory is something from another realm. Produced by well-known noise cultivator Steve Albini, it was understood that AoM would be more aggressive. Just how aggressive was unclear. Our answer came mere seconds into the lead track “No Future/No Past,” as we’re shown a brow-raising dark side of Cloud Nothings that rarely, if ever, appeared in the tanks of hooks from Turning On or Cloud Nothings. Fierce and heart-pounding, Dylan’s voice is stretched to hoarse levels and the boyish pop punk is left on the wayside, replaced in vengeance with the crass musings of post-hardcore. But the true testament of how much they’ve matured over the past year comes in the form of “Wasted Days”: capping off just under nine minutes, three times as long as any other song in their catalog, we’re beaten blue and grateful. Full-bodied groans are summoned by an ever-intensifying contusion of shoegazed sine waves and a pure neglect of hearing loss that drops out into unadulterated power.

Not putting all their ducks in one boat, AoM’s journey away from earbug power-pop still contains the inner-workings that kicked over chairs in Turning On. Listening to songs like “Stay Useless” or “Cut You,” we find qualities both familiar and foreign. The hooks come off informed, their composition: thought out and styled. Lyrics like on “Our Plan”–”original, it’ll never get old”–have the same facetious tone they know so well. Unlike those who erupt commercially, retreat, and remain conservative for the sake of playing it safe, Attack on Memory is not only an impressive Sophomore effort, but a grounded oeuvre of the devil-may-care quality.

Cloud Nothings headlines Orlando’s Will’s Pub February 20^th.