Videos by American Songwriter
Cloud Nothings, one of Ohioan Dylan Baldi’s made-up bands, became real when the Internet got the memo and a New York promoter hired him for a gig. Since then, Baldi has turned Cloud Nothings into one of the smarter fuzz-pop bands this side of Wavves. The band’s new full length album, Cloud Nothings, was done with the producer, Chester Gwazda, who made Dan Deacon’s Bromst a great record. Lyrically, Baldi still goes for those lazy generalities that hit you over the head and work so well for lo-fi music: “I don’t understand at all” he says on album opener “Understand At All.” On “Should Have,” it’s a similarly simple sentiment: “I always knew I’d follow you and now I know that it’s much better.” But between the mundane refrains is Baldi’s crisp sense of melody and song composition. Working with Gwazda, Baldi has shorn Cloud Nothings of the computer recording aesthetic and the music is all the better for it.
