Oh hey there Cloud Nothings, it's been a while. Cloud Nothings got their start back in 2010 when they used to consist completely of sole member Dylan Baldi. Legend has it that he recorded their debut, "Turning On" in his parents basement. If you've listened to it, you'll probably believe that. It's certainly not a bad album, there's actually quite a few decent tunes on there. But overall, I wasn't really into the Low-Fi production of everything. On the other hand, when it comes to their Self Titled 2011 album, it was love at first listen. At the time, I was super into low-fi garage rock bands, and Cloud Nothings seemed to fit into that mold so wonderfully. The tracks here were so catchy and innocent, while continually packing enough energy and grittiness to keep their fanbase pleased. Then came "Attack On Memory", which basically was the hardest U-Turn Cloud Nothings could have done. There were no more sweet, upbeat surf rock tunes, no no. Cloud Nothings on here were noisy, slow burning, angry and full of emotions. Even the peppier performances on here were so much harsher and heavy. Not to mention, these instrumentals were just so vast and gigantic compared to the 2 minute low-fi jams they have been pushing out before. As far as vocals go, Dylan Baldi just sounded so hurt, so empty, and more than anything like an animal. Cloud Nothings had clearly been boning up on their Slint and Fugazi albums, and they were seriously owning this new sound. As far as their next album goes, "Here And Nowhere Else" seriously didn't hit me nearly as hard. While the music there was OK, I didn't feel nearly as moved by any of the performances. Cloud Nothings to me were going for a different sound yet again, almost pulling from some classic Emo sounds. Like I said, a lot of the stuff here wasn't necessarily bad, but I don't know why Cloud Nothings had to change anything. Since then, Cloud Nothings have been relatively quiet. They did that kinda bizarre split mini-album with Wavves which felt criminally incomplete, but outside of that it's been a while. Let's chat about this new album, "Life Without Sound".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtkePLlTUcY
(For those of y'all that aren't that familiar with Cloud Nothings)
“Up To The Surface” starts off with a pretty stunning intro, to be honest I never really know what to expect when it comes to Cloud Nothings. As far as their style goes, it’s always been a little bit all over the place. However, I do have to say that the piano in the background here actually works quite nicely with the buildup of everything. Overall, I think this works nicely as an intro for fans of Cloud Nothings, especially if you were a fan of their “Attack On Memory” album. It’s sluggish, we see once again Cloud Nothings toying with this old school Emo sound, they’ve been once again boning up on their Sunny Day Real Estate. Cloud Nothings fill the sound well however, there’s certainly PLENTY of tension in those drums as well as the pianos that continue to pummel their way through the background. As far as Dylan Baldi’s performance goes, it’s nothing short of commendable. While Baldi’s performances have always been a little hit and miss with me, he’s certainly “on” here and and filled with emotion. If you’re a fan of “Attack On Memory” this is certainly one to check out. Up next though, things take a huge turn for the worse with “Things Are Right With You”. I feel like Cloud Nothings usually take their time on an album to bring in these more upbeat tracks, but here we are this early on in the album with a more upbeat track. Dylan Baldi on this one however, sounds pretty awful. His vocals here have absolutely no emotion whatsoever, he comes off here as a whiny singer of a late 90’s “fake” “punk” band. I’m totally fine with Cloud Nothings picking up that pace and going for a more upbeat sound, but this doesn’t even remotely sound like them. All of that emotion present on that first track is just flung completely out the window. Instrumentally, it’s alright, it’s certainly not terrible, and some of the solos add a nice touch. But the intro to this album had Cloud Nothings playing with such PASSION, this just floats by and doesn’t leave anything behind to remember. And if that wasn't enough, the chorus here is just so flat and unenthusiastic, “Things Are Right With You” is not good. “Internal World” on the other hand at least has Dylan Baldi showing us some emotion right off the bat, and this at the very least SOUNDS like a Cloud Nothings song. Baldi here isn’t coming off whiny at all, and that’s a huge plus. As solid as this track is for the most part, Cloud Nothings still have a huge problem in deciding their genre. There’s still plenty of elements of old school Emo, there’s some post grunge, there’s some post hardcore, some old school indie sounds, we seriously have to start narrowing down some of these Cloud Nothings. “Internal World” while stylistically it’s a little all over the place, it doesn’t crumble and fail miserably, it actually sticks together nicely and ends up having some really memorable moments. Some of these instrumentals as well are some of the more epic of the album, especially in Jayson Gerycz’s stellar drum performance.
“Darkened Rings” picks the pace right back up again, and I can’t stress enough just how much they really need to be careful with these tracks. I don’t necessarily have a problem with upbeat Cloud Nothings tracks, they’ve proven in the past that they CAN make them work. But to be honest, in their last two albums or so they’ve shown that their real strong point is sticking with slower pace, more atmospheric tracks. “Darkened Rings” has a very “wild” feel to it all, with all of these soaring “out of control” instrumentals. The piano here is a little goofy occasionally, and not for nothing but I can’t stand when Baldi’s vocals get all yelpy like this. It’s a shame too, because in the right instance his vocals can be so emotional. It “Darkened Rings” is supposed to be the “unhinged” version of Cloud Nothings, I’m seriously not feeling it. The instrumentals here are hit and miss. Jayson Gerycz’s drum performance continues to be a standout, but the guitar licks just seem grossly out of place and the piano melodies continue to be agitating. If you’re not into Cloud Nothings usually slower paced tracks, you may dig this a lot, but I can’t get into it. “Enter Entirely” is up next, with a much slower and almost bluesier sound. It works very nicely though for Cloud Nothings, and Baldi’s vocal performance here is nothing short of chilling. These much more minimal atmospheres seem to do wonders for Dylan Baldi’s vocals. I wouldn’t say this track is completely barren feeling, but it’s certainly giving Baldi much more room to shine. His vocals get a little yelpy towards the chorus but even that works here due to the sheer derailment of everything going on around him. Once again, Cloud Nothings are totally going for that old school Emo vibe, locking into these serious grooves which go fantastic alongside Baldi’s almost paranoid performance. “Enter Entirely” proves that Cloud Nothings can certainly still write a great tune, but this still poses a problem. This is literally their fourth album, but here they still are still desperately trying to figure out what their signature sound is. I’m still enjoying most of this album, probably more than most other critics, but I worry about the future of Cloud Nothings quite a bit. They seriously need to buckle down and get one distinct sound going, because I feel like I haven’t been this into a chorus since “Stay Useless” from “Attack on Memory”. Then we have “Modern Act” which Cloud Nothings definitely pick up the pace for. It certainly doesn’t come off bad at all however, with Baldi actually sounding really confident amongst this more uplifting tone. I was actually was really worried that Baldi was going to come off whiny on a track like this, surprisingly he doesn’t, and he actually ends up coming out with one of the album’s catchiest and most memorable choruses. If “Modern Act” is going to be the sound of future, more upbeat tracks from Cloud Nothings, I’m totally fine with that. But I’m still sick of Cloud Nothings being the proverbial grab bag of everything heavy in the indie rock world. Hell I don’t even know where “Modern Act” fits in genre-wise, it sure fits nicely though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xit8uUxuKd0
Starting off the final third of the album we have “Sight Unseen”. Right from these opening bars, I’m not feeling it at all. Baldi’s performance here is just so sluggish and lifeless, even when that chorus comes in. As peppy and as upbeat as it is, nothing sticks with me about this track at all. The instrumentals here are hard to pinpoint, with the guitars for the most part taking a backseat to these soaring pianos that are once again seriously not necessary. It’s just getting frustrating how often this album switches up genres and moods and everything in between, I would honestly just love if they stuck with their Post Hardcore sound. However, I’m seriously about to eat my words completely. They absolutely go for a more Post Hardcore sound on “Strange Year”, but boy is this one hard to swallow. This track seems so unbelievably forced to me, like Cloud Nothings are trying desperately to make up for some of the more upbeat tracks here. The result isn’t necessarily a bad track, but my issue is that this sound used to come so natural to Cloud Nothings. While the instrumentals are solid and all, Dylan Baldi sounds like he’s putting on one hell of an act. We’re talking about a genre here that’s supposed to be filled with over the top performances, but this is just so damn FORCED. There’s also little to no instrumental buildup, it’s just constant release after release. It’s not the worst track here, and it’s certainly the most intense track here, I just wish it came off as more natural. Thankfully Cloud Nothings end this album off on a good note with “Realize My Fate”. If any of the last few tracks made you lose interest, this one will certainly win you back quickly with it’s sharp intro. In just about every way, “Realize My Fate” is what I want to hear from Cloud Nothings. This slow, pounding instrumental and slowly creeping along atmosphere are both to die for, When they seriously buckle down on a sound like they have here, and I mean ONE sound not SIX, it comes off masterfully. Baldi doesn’t even sound human here, he sounds genuinely tortured. Cloud Nothings on this finale don’t just sound like they were influenced by great Post Hardcore acts like Fugazi, Slint, and Drive Like Jehu, they sound like they could easily stand toe to toe with them if they just focused. THIS is the sound I want to hear from Cloud Nothings. Bring me plenty more of this, and stick with it, then we’ll chat again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xit8uUxuKd0
Starting off the final third of the album we have “Sight Unseen”. Right from these opening bars, I’m not feeling it at all. Baldi’s performance here is just so sluggish and lifeless, even when that chorus comes in. As peppy and as upbeat as it is, nothing sticks with me about this track at all. The instrumentals here are hard to pinpoint, with the guitars for the most part taking a backseat to these soaring pianos that are once again seriously not necessary. It’s just getting frustrating how often this album switches up genres and moods and everything in between, I would honestly just love if they stuck with their Post Hardcore sound. However, I’m seriously about to eat my words completely. They absolutely go for a more Post Hardcore sound on “Strange Year”, but boy is this one hard to swallow. This track seems so unbelievably forced to me, like Cloud Nothings are trying desperately to make up for some of the more upbeat tracks here. The result isn’t necessarily a bad track, but my issue is that this sound used to come so natural to Cloud Nothings. While the instrumentals are solid and all, Dylan Baldi sounds like he’s putting on one hell of an act. We’re talking about a genre here that’s supposed to be filled with over the top performances, but this is just so damn FORCED. There’s also little to no instrumental buildup, it’s just constant release after release. It’s not the worst track here, and it’s certainly the most intense track here, I just wish it came off as more natural. Thankfully Cloud Nothings end this album off on a good note with “Realize My Fate”. If any of the last few tracks made you lose interest, this one will certainly win you back quickly with it’s sharp intro. In just about every way, “Realize My Fate” is what I want to hear from Cloud Nothings. This slow, pounding instrumental and slowly creeping along atmosphere are both to die for, When they seriously buckle down on a sound like they have here, and I mean ONE sound not SIX, it comes off masterfully. Baldi doesn’t even sound human here, he sounds genuinely tortured. Cloud Nothings on this finale don’t just sound like they were influenced by great Post Hardcore acts like Fugazi, Slint, and Drive Like Jehu, they sound like they could easily stand toe to toe with them if they just focused. THIS is the sound I want to hear from Cloud Nothings. Bring me plenty more of this, and stick with it, then we’ll chat again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFLXnJwvBzk
Rating: 7.4/10
Give A Listen To: “Up To The Surface”, “Internal World”, “Realize My Fate” “Modern Act”
Overall Thoughts: This may go as an unpopular opinion, but I actually ended up liking this more than their previous album, "Here And Nowhere Else". Cloud Nothings have proven that in the right circumstance they can still do real wonders for the Post Hardcore sound. My only issue really is still the same one I've had for years, we're 4 Cloud Nothings albums in and they still really don't seem to know what sound to stick with. THAT'S a huge problem. If they could figure that out and narrow down their sound, man these guys could be unstoppable.
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