It’s hard to qualify what it is exactly that I have against Cloud Nothings Here and Nowhere Else. Or if I even do have anything against it, for that matter. It’s an objectively awesome record, for reasons which I will get into shortly. But by this point, if you’re a fan of Cloud Nothings, you will have heard heaps of praise being tossed on Here and Nowhere Else already, despite it only being released this week. And it’s not that this praise isn’t justified! Like I said, I’ll get into that in a minute. But right now I want to take the time to figure out just why Here and Nowhere Else leaves a bad taste in my mouth, despite it being so obviously great.
So Here and Nowhere Else is obviously great… maybe that has something to do with it, but Cloud Nothings were essentially set to succeed regardless of what move they made after 2012’s Attack On Memory. To this day, that record remains a unexpectedly vital piece of the modern rock ‘underground’ (or is it above ground? Depends on whether or not you have wireless internet I guess, which you probably do I mean come on it’s fucking 2014). Attack On Memory shook the ground that most indie rock stood upon at that point, causing the weak to fall between the cracks in it’s wake. I mean really though, when was the last time you heard a successful ‘lofi bedroom rock’ record? Founder Dylan Baldi, by ‘getting the band together’ on his own personal sense of scale, ended up causing mostly everyone else in the game to do the same. And music has been all the better for it.
So going into Here and Nowhere Else’s album cycle, critics have been poised to celebrate the return of that kid from Cleveland who ended up accidentally saving rock and roll (yawn). That’s what I mean when I say Cloud Nothings were bound to succeed regardless of what they did with the follow up to Attack On Memory; we’re already pretty stoked on this band, and after the stellar Attack On Memory and it’s subsequent impact, we’ve basically handed Baldi the critical keys. Here’s the car, man. Go nuts. We’ve got your back regardless of where you wanna go.
Baldi seems pretty aware of all this, and is as stoked about it as any other 23 year old would be. Where Attack On Memory lashed out with visceral desperation, Here and Nowhere Else brims with a cautiously positive energy. If one album ever captured the notion of ‘contently jaded’, this would be the one. Baldi seems to be a lot more accepting of his place in the world on this record, probably because he’s the frontman behind one of the biggest non-major rock bands on the planet right now.
The production on Here and Nowhere Else compliments this sentiment. Whereas Steve Albini’s minimal, here’s-the-instrument-and-that’s-fucking-it approach to Attack On Memory was fitting to the raw frustration that fueled it, John Congleton’s looser, live-er production fits the more relaxed feel most of the songs on Here and Nowhere Else carry. The songs still shred and play out at breakneck paces, but it feels like the people playing the instruments are actually having fun this time around, instead of playing like their lives depended on it on Attack On Memory. The weight of the world Baldi carried on his shoulders on Attack On Memory is shrugged off progressively throughout Here And Nowhere Else, culminating during the gorgeous coda of penultimate track “Pattern Walks,” leading to complete freedom on the straight up pop-punk of final track and first single, “I’m Not Part Of Me.” Cloud Nothings’ decision to release the poppiest and happiest track off the record as its first single is very indicative of the headspace they are in right now. Cloud Nothings just aren’t as pissed off as they used to be. Like he says in the song, “there’s a way I was before/but I can’t recall how I was those days anymore’.
The thing is…I can recall. Am I happy for Baldi and co. for reaching some sort of fucked up version of inner peace? Of course I am. Sounds like Cloud Nothings are well on their way to self-actualization and I couldn’t be more stoked on their behalf. But the Cloud Nothings that knocked me off my feet with the pure fear and anger of Attack On Memory is still the Cloud Nothings that I connect with. Is it fair that I let that get in the way of my judgement of this record? Probably not. Because this is a great record. In terms of sheer songwriting quality, the eight tracks on Here and Nowhere Else are at least on par with anything from Attack On Memory, and “Pattern Walks” may be the best song Cloud Nothings has produced to date. And I’m sure there are legions of kids out there who will find Here and Nowhere Else and connect to the hope found on this record. But to all of us lost, hopeless souls who found solace in the existential angst of Attack On Memory, it all comes off as a bit grating. Some of us just haven’t moved on yet. But when we do, Here and Nowhere Else will be there, welcoming us with open arms and, like, fuckin’ guitars, man.
Ridiculous Made Up Genre of the Day: hopeful garagecore
Rating: 4/5