Band : Cloud Nothings
Album title : Cloud Nothings
Label : Wichita(US= Carpark Records)
Distributor : V2 Benelux
Release date : 24/01/2011
Release : CD

Originally, Power Pop act Cloud Nothingswas the one-man project of one Dylan Baldi (whom had before been active in the band Male Bonding), barely 18 at the time when he started putting his fuzz and distortion characterized songs together on a crappy computer in the suburban basement of his parental home, just outside Cleveland, Ohio. That was only a couple (take that literal) of winters ago, and in the meantime CN has released a split EP with Kevin Greenspoon(on Bridgetown Records), a handful of singles on several labels, and a full-length titled Turning On, compiling those earlier recordings and additional demo takes he'd put onto cd-R (issued through Carpark Records in October of last).

Just before that (September 17), Dylanhad seen the release of a new EP titled Leave You Forever, recorded (according to the info sheet we got along with our download promo copy of the album) without all the lo-fi fuzz and distortion that had been so typical for his early work, and although the new material still had the trademarks of Dylan's songwriting, the difference was apparently (again according to the aforementioned info) huge. Big enough for UK based label Wichita to invest in future recordings. In fact, things had come about even before the 7-inch (vinyl) EP's actual release, Dylan choosing Baltimore based producer Chester Gwazda (known from his work with Dan Deacon and Future Islands, among others) to record at Baltimore's Copycat Building in August 2010. And although in the meantime Cloud Nothings had grown into a band to promote his songs in live conditions, Dylan played all instruments and sang all vocals himself!
The result is an 28-minute, 11-track album. Somehow the lo-fi things ain't quite gone, and that's a góód thing, as this way the material has a sound which harkens back to the Guitar Pop sounds of the mid '60s...a feeling which is enhanced that much more by Dylan's vocal stylings. There Is the occasional Punky feel in the vocals (check “Not Important”, for instance), but overall this album is a nice reminiscing to days when life was seemingly far more simple (people tend to forget about life's hardships, Vietnam & Korea warfare, the Cold War, getting by with less than minimum wage, having to live in houses which were decrepit more than anything, in a time when housing regulations, and other laws which have made life as a whole that much easier and comfortable...at least in the “Western Hemispheres”!

Ah well, surf to (www.) myspace.com/cloudnothings to check out some Cloud Nothing music. There's only a full-length track and a sample off the current album, so in order to hear more current material, you'll have to look up the album's (and also the last EP's) at Amazon.com, where you can listen to further samples of all album songs. In the US, the album was released on January 25, and preceded by the single “Should Have”(includes an unreleased b-side track). Meanwhile, the band has gone out on a short European tour, starting in the UK on February 15. With a little luck (depending on how fast this gets posted, and how fast you get to read it), you can still catch the band at one of the last dates of the tour. They're playing the W2in Den Bosch, Holland on Feb. 26, Brussels' Botanique>on the 28th, De Kreun in Kortrijk (Belgium) on March 1st, and finish the tour in Berlin (no venue known?) on March 2nd. Then, it's back to the US for gigs all over the country with Toro y Moi, and appearances at Austin's SxSW festival and Phoenix, Arizona's South By Stateside festival.

Yo...by the way...apparently interest in this band is something global, with Australia's Inertia picking up the album for distribution in their area, and Japan's Hostess doin' the same for theirs!

88/100

Tony.