•
Rating:
Attack on Memory was, in many ways, a defining moment for Cloud Nothings: the transition from a solo project to a rock band, the departure from more carefree sounds in favor of a rougher, rawer, and more menacing approach. Some loved them, others hated them, but the fact is that Cloud Nothings delivered a memorable album that filled many "top 10" lists of 2013.
The band's new effort, Here and Nowhere Else, is a destabilizing album. The darker and more aggressive sound of Attack on Memory becomes even less defined, almost on the edge of apathy. The band loses a guitar and becomes a trio, offering even simpler and more direct arrangements: the melodies, albeit catchy, are suffocated by chaotic and lo-fi production, in contrast with the raw but powerful and defined sound previously produced with Albini.
If you are among those listeners who were very impressed by the predecessor Attack On Memory, this album might initially leave you with a bitter taste. As mentioned a few lines before, the general feeling is one of breathing an air of apathy, almost laziness in the way these songs are approached...then...after closer listening, the same apathy, the same chaos, and the same laziness that are the main flaws of this album become its main pillars:
Dylan Baldi writes pop songs as if they were straight out of a Buzzcocks album, but he just can't capture the euphoria of melodic lines and the energy of a simple and sustained rhythm. Instead, he decides to "destroy" the melodies with an attitude hovering between the indifference of Kurt Cobain's "In Utero" and the discomfort typical of personalities like J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.).
This mix of influences, intentional or not, is what produces an interesting and "bastard" album. Punk that doesn't want to be punk, alternative rock that doesn't want to be too complex, but inevitably ends up having more depth than planned.
Loading comments slowly
