CLOUD NOTHINGS
2021 INDIE-PUNK/POST-PUNK
The Shadow I Remember is the eighth album by punk outfit Cloud Nothings. This is not a review, more like a lamentation, punk music is often concerned with such things so perhaps this is fitting. Way back in 2012 Cloud Nothings dropped the barn burning sensation that was their third album Attack on Memory. The opening duo of songs is among the best one-two punches that any record has delivered. The methodical tension building, the unbridled chaotic energy, the rest is terrific too, albeit more traditional in structure. Unfocused, but considering the shift from lo-fi power-pop to this it’s expected that they are on a proverbial soul search. All angles revealed pure potential in the boiled over cauldron that was Attack on Memory but it’s been eight years now, and five, count ‘em, five full length releases that are criminally bland. Instead of building on their sound they’ve put out, honest to god, the same record five times. Wall to wall average verse chorus verse indie punk, not a chance taken in sight. How does the band differentiate themselves? How do they stand out in the endless crowd of emotionally tinged indie schlock? They don’t. Obviously there is nothing inherently wrong with this, they make perfectly fine tunes, but that in itself is the problem. You could feel them on the cusp of head shattering brilliance, unique and furious. With all sonic possibilities in their sight they choose the derivative, combined with a marked decrease in songwriting quality they’ve just about mined out the mountain of goodwill Attack on Memory had built up. To be perfectly cliche, as often Cloud Nothings are these days, I’m not mad. I’m disappointed.
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