For many artists, there comes a point where reckless abandon, youthful exuberance and the noble art of writing a catchy pop song all fail to satisfy the artistic impulse. Traditionally, this should coincide with a newfound fascination with one or more of the following: acoustic guitars, gradiose arrangements, wistful balladry… you know the drill. It’s usually referred to as ‘maturing’ – supposedly the point at which a mere musician becomes a fully-fledged artist, and subsequently drops the idiosyncrasies that made them so exciting in the first place. In other words, it’s where the fun stops.
That’s why it’s best to catch ‘em young. Take 19 year old Dylan Baldi, for instance. As recently as a year ago, his lo-fi Cloud Nothings project tossed elements of the Buzzcocks, the Ramones and the Wipers into a bag full of tartrazine-rich hooks, concocting a sumptuous speedball of sugar, melody and suburban life. But after rounding up some pals to take his bedroom punk on the road, our young hero decided that perfectly imperfect pop wasn’t enough. It was time to get nasty. And noisy. And with the Steve Albini-recorded sophomore effort ‘Attack On Memory’, that’s exactly what they’ve done. Full of sandpaper-raw screams and adrenalising clatter, it recalls the rough-edged melodicism and miasmic self-loathing of ‘In Utero’, as well as countless other indie rock classics . It’s bloody fantastic. Am I laying it on a bit thick here? Ok, let’s cut to the chase.
Even from the other end of a phone line, it’s pretty clear Dylan’s a nice guy. So what could possibly motivate him to make something so audibly aggressive?
“Now we’re a full band, the way we play the old songs live is aggressive,” he explains. “We wanted to make songs that were more fitting with that.”
So you don’t try to nurture those feelings of aggression?
“Not really.”
You’ve said yourself that they’re ‘pretty depressing’ songs…
“They weren’t meant to be. It was only when we’d finished and I listened back to them that I realised, ‘oh, these are really depressing!’”
Spin called the album ‘the most Albini thing Albini has recorded this decade’.
“Haha! That’s pretty funny.”
According to your recent interview with Pitchfork, Steve spent most of the recording time playing Facebook scrabble, and that he ‘probably doesn't feel that his name should be attached to [your] music in any way’. How was your relationship with him
“It was great actually. The interview you’re talking about suggests there was a problem, but that wasn’t the case at all.”
Well, that’s one bit of scurrilous tittle-tattle we can put to bed then. Some of the record sounds an awful lot like Nirvana. Are they important to you?
“Umm, not really. I can see how it might sound like that, but I don’t really listen to them.”
Pfft, so much for insight, eh? There are other tracks that are reminiscent of Spoon.
“The utensil?”
Haha. Umm, no. The band, you tinker.
“That’s interesting… the first song was actually written on the piano when I was listening to a lot of Spoon. It’s kinda nice that you’d notice that.”
Aw, shucks.
***
It’s clear that the Cloud Nothings head honcho is more than a little cautious about getting his fingers burned tonight – he’s extremely cheerful and very polite, but very concerned about how he’ll come across. With that in mind, your humble hack decides small talk is the answer. If we’re going to understand anything more about this ace new record, we’ll have to get to know Dylan a bit better…
Do you read your own press?
“Not really.”
Why not?
“I just try not to let it influence me. And it’s weird reading about myself.”
Have you ever googled yourself?
“What?!?”
You know… have you ever searched for yourself on Google?
Dylan pauses momentarily, then chuckles.
Well?
“Um... Yeh.”
You’re not giving anything away, you sly dog. Ok then, different tactic required. Last time you visited Europe, you toured with Les Savy Fav. How was that?
“Oh yeh, it was great – a real learning experience.”
Oh good! Any interesting stories you’d care to share with us?
“Uhh… no.”
Honestly?
“Haha, no.”
This is getting is nowhere. Right, back to the album. Your lyrics are very angsty without giving much away about the source of the angst. Are you self-conscious about writing lyrics?
“I’m not very interested in being a band that has great lyrics – I’m much more interested in sounding good.”
Has living in Cleveland had any influence on your writing?
“Yeh. Probably from having nothing to do.”
Fair enough. What have you been listening to lately?
“A lot of Wipers… Television… older stuff, I guess.”
This is the first album you’ve recorded as a band rather than on your own. Are you more comfortable with the full band now?
“Yeh, definitely. It’s just more fun. Things like the middle section on the second track [the nine-minute skronk-athon ‘Wasted Days’] would not have happened if it was just me, because I wouldn’t have any interest in recording it.”
Would you ever want to revisit the more earnest, less belligerent sounds of your earlier work?
“Right now? Not really. But a year from now I might really want to. Who knows?”
So is this the sound of Cloud Nothings growing up, or just heading somewhere else?
“Uhhh... Heading somewhere else.”
Right. And where else is this journey going to take you?
“Well, we’re coming back to Europe in May, and then hopefully work on getting another record out by the end of the year.”
Jolly good. That seems as sensible a time as any to draw a line under our time with Dylan Baldi. It’s impossible to dislike someone so affable, and also pretty easy to understand why a young musician might be a little guarded. But maybe – just maybe – he’s trying to cling onto those germs of youth so that Cloud Nothings never need fall prey to the dangers of ‘maturity’ and...
What? Too much?
Sorry, I guess I really can lay it on a bit thick sometimes.
'Attack On Memory' is out now.
Words by Will Fitzpatrick
Photo Credit: Ryan Manning