In 2012, Dylan Baldi paired up with the Scrabble-playing producer Steve Albini and dropped his then bedroom-pop project Cloud Nothings on its head. Attack on Memory was what emerged out of the wreckage, an intensely pissed-off record that shattered both expectations and eardrums.
If Attack on Memory was two steps forward for Baldi and the boys, their newest record, Here and Nowhere Else, finds them taking one step back. Yes, Baldi is still screeching his head off, and yes, he’s still screeching his head off about being an awkward loner. But, mostly due to the production, Nowhere Else feels amateur in comparison to Attack — almost like its pre-pubescent kid brother.
Not that it’s by any means a bad record. With the exception of near-miss “Pattern Walks,” Here and Nowhere Else is a quite enjoyable thirty minutes of raw guitars, hell-fire drums, and memorable melodies and choruses. And when the record closes with “I’m Not Part of Me,” it becomes clear that Here and Nowhere Else is a really solid follow-up — one that shows Cloud Nothings looking slightly back at their past, and confidently into their future.
Here and Nowhere Else