Here and Nowhere Else [Digipak] by Cloud Nothings (CD, 2014)

John Congleton

Hostess

4582214510576

7050150398

Cloud Nothings

CD

2014

Here and Nowhere Else [Digipak]

Rock

51 mins 28 seconds

Audio Mixer: John Congleton. Photographer: Dylan Baldi. Considering that Cloud Nothings sprang from Dylan Baldi's gloriously unruly teenage angst, it could be damning with faint praise to say that Here and Nowhere Else is his most considered set of songs yet. However, the album's maturity reveals itself in the attitude behind the music more than in the music itself. Baldi and company temper the tantrums of Attack on Memory just enough to tell a tale of personal and musical growth. Where that album was full of showy ambition and peaks and valleys, Here and Nowhere Else is a heads-down set of songs. From its rolling beat to Baldi's more relaxed vocals, "Now Hear In" sets the easier, more natural tone for the rest of the album. A few bravado moments remain, most notably "Pattern Walks," which could be a kissing cousin to Attack on Memory with its seven-minute length, tangled guitars, and ecstatic keyboards. Still, the band spends more time crafting the kind of hooky yet angry insights that have made their best songs special since the beginning; the sweet harmonies carry just as much weight as the heavy guitar, drums, and bass on songs like "Quieter Today," which could be the album's manifesto. John Congleton's hissy production borders on lo-fi, which is used too often as a signifier for deeply felt emotions. It actually works here, forcing listeners to crank up the volume and lean in to Baldi's screams. Here and Nowhere Else offers ample proof that Cloud Nothings aren't too mature and considered to really let it rip on "Just See Fear" and "Giving Into Seeing," both of which build to truly chaotic fury topped by Baldi's raw-throated howling (however, drummer Jayson Gerycz is the band's true MVP, driving the album's dramatic dynamic shifts with ease). Throughout these songs, the band examines the gulfs between people with the kind of furious apathy and emphatic ambivalence that makes them the heirs to '80s and '90s masters like the Replacements, Green Day, and Nirvana without seeming overly derivative. Here and Nowhere Else closes with "I'm Not Part of Me," which sings the praises of bridging those gulfs instead of burning bridges. It's a hopeful, if not exactly happy, ending to an album about being in it for the long haul. Call it sustainable punk -- the kind that doesn't need to burn out or fade away. ~ Heather Phares

Rolling Stone - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Baldi's songs still bash and seethe, but with more flashy time-signature shifts, open space and studio trickiness." Spin - "It's upbeat punk, but Baldi's lyrics about his vexing past provide a dour counterpoint that sets the tone for the entire album." Magnet - "HERE AND NOWHERE ELSE is eight songs of angry catharsis, lyrically and musically, the makings of some of the best indie punk in the two decades since Jawbox's FOR YOUR OWN SPECIAL SWEETHEART." CMJ - "Dylan Baldi and co. demonstrate a level of focus and precision by melding their pop-proficiency with their recent knack for the spiteful. There's a sense of maturity and control present, without losing their trademark edge."?  Paste (magazine) - "The result is a fast-paced, convulsive collection that has all the intensity of its predecessor but with an elevated dose of urgency." Pitchfork (Website) - "[E]ven more tense and thrillingly conflicted than its predecessor."

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