Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Album Review: Cloud Nothings-Cloud Nothings

After one self-titled EP, one split cassette, one split CD, and three seven inches, we finally arrive at what has been building and anticipated for way too long; Cloud Nothings' debut album. Something the band obviously could have released much earlier, they instead took the path of tour and honing onto the sound they wanted to make for this album. The outcome of that winds up being Cloud Nothings, a 11 tracks in less than 30 minute album that sounds like the entire band decided to eat an entire package of those novelty sized Pixie Sticks and recorded the entire album in one take.

I bring this all up because the honest truth is Cloud Nothings is more of a pop-punk or power-pop album than it is indie rock one. Or maybe a pop-punk record with indie undertones. One listen to "Not Important" and you will be second guessing whether or not your listening to a long lost Blink 182 demo. However, Cloud Nothings has been building to this sound for a while, so it might be a simply adjustment to the band without the wonderful lo-fi fuzz that made everyone fall in love with them in the first place. Adjusting to the whine that is the actual voice of front man Dylan Baldi takes some time, but works like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah work (this is a completement).

It's not as suddenly turned into Cloud Nothings turned into a bad band. Extremely far from it. Cloud Nothings have produced an album filled to brim with overtly addicitve pop songs, bratty and snotty filled with teenage spirit, but still the stuff that buzzes in your ears' days later. The riff ricochete like they are playing a squash game in the inside of your brain. It's one of those albums where every single song can be imagined to be spinning on a 7 inch of some sort, everything from the actual single of "Should Have" to the almost completely chouse songs that are "Heartbeat" or "Rock". Although not a compete sonic blast (see slow burner "Forget You All the Time") the album is incredibly constant, manic strumming over manic symbol bashes. While a breather is needed every now and then due to the album eventually giving you a headache and blurring together, Cloud Nothings have managed to do what every super prolific artist should do: write songs you want to listen to over and over again.

(mp3) Cloud Nothings-Understand at All
Cloud Nothings "Should Have" by carparkrecords

Links:

Cloud Nothings on Myspace
Buy Cloud Nothings here, from Carpark

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