CLOUD NOTHINGS

Here And Nowhere Else (Wichita)
15/20

On Here and Nowhere Else Cloud Nothings manage to marry two often-contradictory worlds: adolescence and adulthood.

Although musically rooted as ever in the overdriven guitar sounds of post-hardcore, grunge and the more extreme end of indie rock, there is a maturity in lyrical content that adds a further dimension to what would otherwise be a pretty straightforward guitar album. In fact, frontman Dylan Baldi captures the zeitgeist for many young people (more specifically, suffocating post-university claustrophobia) so effortlessly that it’s easy to adopt a close connection to the record in a relatively short space of time. In lead single I’m Not Part of Me for instance, Baldi spits the refrain “I’m not telling you all I’m going through/I feel fine”. Although simple in make- up, such reflections convey a wide spectrum of universal emotions that elevate Here and Nowhere Else from mediocrity to exactly what a good album should be: a mirror of the human condition. This is an album to be played at high volume with the monotony of life and its petty irritations left far behind. A gem of raucous lo-fi grunge pop that the no hopers of Generation Y should lap up with fervent wantonness.

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Words: Benjamin Salt

cloudnothings.com