Tag Archives: cloud nothings

#598: Cloud Nothings – I’m Not Part of Me

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Cloud Nothings’ album Here and Nowhere Else turned five years old a couple of weeks ago. It still packs as much of a punch today as I thought it did then. At the time it was an album that I needed. I had found myself listening to the same old songs for too long. I was very much into Pitchfork so when the site gave it an 8.7 rating out of 10, it was clearly obvious that this album was going to be good.

A word you could use to describe the album is ‘rough’. Not in the “yeesh, that’s rough” kind of way. More in its aesthetic. The pounding drums go about a few seconds earlier than each guitar strum. Dylan Baldi’s vocals are never that clear in the mix. The guitars have quite a harsh, sandy quality to them. But every track is melodic and grounded in pop sensibilities. I may have already stated all of this in the linked post but it’s always good to recollect.

‘I’m Not Part of Me’ is the album closer. From what I can remember it was the first taste of the then new album that the band unveiled to the public too. It arguably has the most memorable hook on the entire record. Plus, it’s quite optimistic in its own casual way. Here and Nowhere Else is quite a tense record musically. Lyrically it looks at the the unfairness of life and how sometimes we just have to deal with bad things that happen to us. Then ‘I’m Not Part of Me’ comes in as the last track and provides the idea that life is unfair, yes, but that’s okay – you just have to move on. It’s almost a breath of fresh air. Just almost.

My iPod #355: Cloud Nothings – Fall In

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After hearing Cloud Nothings for the first time via their most recent album released earlier this year, I was interested in what other stuff the band did. Originally Cloud Nothings was a one man band made of main member Dylan Baldi performing power-pop, happy-go-lucky songs. But I didn’t listen to those. Instead I went straight to “Attack on Memory“, the first album where he expressed his anger and raw feelings into his music, this time with three other people, in order to make us and himself forget about that past.

That’s the album “Fall In” is on. Lyrically, I am not sure what I can say about it. Sure, there are lyrics in it but whether there is real meaning behind them is debatable. Baldi has stated that he doesn’t care for lyrics, and normally writes them the day before recording, which more or less means that the music is the important thing to take note on in this case.

Musically, it’s very fast. And loud. Cloud Nothings has a superb drummer if you didn’t know. Seems to hit them harder and at a more furious pace than any other band I’ve heard of late. It’s the same on this track too. Would think the guy has an extra limb or something. The music during the choruses confuses me a bit too. I can’t count along to it. It sounds like the vocals and guitars are going at a completely different time to the drums. It’s all in 4/4 though, listen to the drums closely enough and you’ll be able to get it soon enough.

Sorry for the late post too, caught got up in some reading.

One album I’m liking at the moment: Cloud Nothings – Here and Nowhere Else

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You may have seen this video in this blog’s about page. If not, there is Cloud Nothings’ latest album “Here and Nowhere Else” which was released in the first few days of April. I feel as if I am a bit late to do any kind of review on this, but seeing as My iPod is on hiatus for a while I might as well update my blog with a few sporadic posts.

I found out about “Here and Nowhere Else” and generally the band itself when I found the album’s review on Pitchfork. It got an 8.7. That score sounded good. It also got positive reviews from Allmusic and Consequence of Sound too. Thought I might as well check it out and see if it lives up to the acclaim.

If you are a particular fan of a rock song with fuzzy guitars, torrential drums, and in general music that sounds like it should be played at a very high volume….. that is constant throughout every song on here. This is probably the album for you.

The vocals partially buried underneath all this noise, so it can be hard to understand just what singer Dylan Baldi is actually saying. Unless you’re a person who gets really deep into lyrics, that’s shouldn’t be much of a problem. Maybe it was intentional. But the melodies are simple, yet memorable and satisfying.

I’ve also seen some people say that they weren’t as impressed by this as they were with the band’s last album “Attack on Memory”. Most of those comments I saw in the comment section of the video above. For sure the chord changes may be simple and there’s no sense of interplay between guitars brought on from the lack of the second guitarist who left before album sessions started. The production may not be up to standard to those who liked Steve Albini’s production on “Attack on Memory” too. Honestly, I’m a fan of both albums and it seems like on “Here” more emphasis is put on the guitars than on the former album while still capturing those relentless drums. Maybe that’s just me.

Whatever, I think the album’s great. Have a listen to it and “Attack on Memory” if you have the time. Both albums are a bit short.

My track picks:

Now Hear In, Just See Fear, I’m Not Part of Me