Send "Cloud Nothings " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Last Fall, Dylan Baldi-- the young, bespectacled face and brains behind Cleveland power-pop outfit Cloud Nothings-- was gearing up for two simultaneous releases: a delicious new 7" single and a wide-release compilation that wrangled together nearly every other hook he had burned to cassette, vinyl, or CD-R in the year before. While both shared remarkably strong songwriting, said single was recorded without much of the fuzz and distortion that enveloped his work up until that point. The difference was huge. Baldi's home-recorded hooks had never been hard to hear, but out in the open, free of that lo-fi asterisk, they thrived. Breaks were crisp, turnarounds hit like boomerangs, and every sweet, tightly coiled melody could be savored in full. In the lead-up to this, his first full-length in wide-release, Baldi hinted that he'd continue to clarify his recordings. He stuck to his guns.The result is another fantastic step forward, though not without some growing pains. In the transition from basement to studio, one component has yet to come into full focus: Baldi's voice. The gap between those sounds coming from his hands and those from his mouth is noticeable. The opening five-song blast, as exhilarating an assemblage of tracks as he's ever strung together, provides a useful chart of his comfort level now that his voice is completely uncovered. Within the insanely hummable, sometimes gummy verses of opener "Understand At All", you can hear Baldi's voice originate just at his throat, where the screams of "Not Important" hail. And while the latter motions toward the skittering Midwestern pop-punk of the Promise Ring and recently reunited Get Up Kids as much as Buzzcocks, its final gasp echoes (as though in tribute) that of Wavves' Nathan Williams, another former lo-fi kid who's made impressive use of the studio. "Should Have" opts however for the suburbs instead of the beach and the unabashed melodicism of Gin Blossoms over Nirvana, Baldi's voice moving even lower. Once "Forget You All the Time" arrives, he sounds to be as confident and strong behind the mic as do all those gorgeous strands of guitar....full text |
| Dustedmagazine |
| It’s natural to imagine Cloud Nothings’ new self-titled album to be more of the same from the slept-on Turning On, only with a better mix and master. But a lot more than the fidelity has changed in a year. This band has learned how to pivot on a song going full speed for maximum impact. Instead of just barreling along for three minutes, there are twists now that will bowl you right over if you aren’t prepared. The album’s coherence demonstrates a talent that has picked up some considerable skills. The 11 songs here are not only 90-percent hit single material; they work together in concert as an album (as well as in pairs and trios). The rambunctious and hindsight-obsessed “Should Have” sets up the melancholy denial of “Forget You All the Time,” which arguably finds resolution in the upswing of “Nothing’s Wrong.” Maybe. The opening lyrics, “You know this happens all the time,” reappear in closer “All the Time,” a summary of the “teenage heart” that keeps Cloud Nothings ticking. Consider Cloud Nothings the anti-Wavves. Nineteen-year-old Cleveland native Dylan Baldi deals in the same infinitely youthful pop that 24-year-old San Diego native Nathan Williams so deftly exploited on King of the Beach. The difference comes from comportment: while Williams (sometimes literally) fights growing up by clinging to his baser juvenile instincts, Baldi’s rendering of the teenage human condition as universally relatable projects a wisdom way beyond the legal drinking age....full text |
| Bbc |
| The solo project of 18-year-old Cleveland resident Dylan Baldi, Cloud Nothings fairly rained down on 2010 with a series of super-tight EPs in the best power-pop tradition. That material was gathered for a compilation LP, Turning On, released in October, but this is the debut proper, shifting focus from the teenage songwriter’s parental home to a studio in Baltimore, with Dan Deacon and Future Islands producer Chester Gwazda on board. Improving prospects aside, though, the basic deal is the same, and Cloud Nothings rattles along at a fair old clip, boasting an embarrassment of hooks delivered with unassuming, ‘it’s-probably-nothing-but’ panache. Think Ash, Weezer and maybe a pinch of Teenage Fanclub for references or, if you prefer the modern-day practitioners, Wavves with a better report card or Johnny Foreigner without the tweecore trimmings. Baldi’s grasp of power-pop dynamics is undeniable, even imaginative at times – check Heartbeat’s racing, stop-start declaration that "I don’t have a heartbeat, why do you?" for proof. It’s a moment that could’ve been lifted from a late-90s pop-punk smash, but Baldi ends it there at the minute-ten mark, most likely just because he can. Understand It All sounds like Brian Wilson in a runaway shopping trolley with his pockets stuffed full of fireworks, while Been Through is another highlight, with the aggressive melancholy of early Pretenders material....full text |
Cloud Nothings lyrics Music videoclips
|
| ||||||||||
