Vinyl I've Purchased

Sometimes, you just need to let out the raw emotions, to release your energy with elbows and knees akimbo, to crank the volume up and jump around your studio apartment like a madman in your own personal mosh pit of couch pillows and throw blankets. This is necessary on some days. It might bother your neighbors, but it's necessary nonetheless. They'll understand.

Here's the vinyl record I recently bought for those occasions:

Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

Cloud Nothings is the creative outlet of a Cleveland man named Dylan Baldi. An enigmatic figure, he's been writing music since 2009, taking the do-it-yourself lo-fi approach. With Attack on Memory, he's achieved something remarkable. This album is a blissful statement about liberation through music. This is passionate grunge/punk/garage rock with catchy hooks and emotive lyrics. It is raw and energetic and it runs an intense 30 minutes.

Now this isn't one of those grunge/punk albums where every song sounds the same. There's a variety to the tracks. Sure, there's a good amount of screaming vocals, but there are also beautiful melodies and those catchy pop hooks that focus and ground the songs. All backed by excellent guitar work, complicated and furious drum beats, and driving bass lines.

The opening track, "No Future/No Past," sounds nothing like the rest of the album. It begins slow and the vocals build up until Baldi is screaming over the music, but it keeps its steady and slow tempo throughout. "Wasted Days" is almost nine minutes long and undergoes extreme changes as it moves forward. It starts off with pop melodies and an appealing guitar riff, but then moves into a furious, disorienting, psychedelic jam as Baldi repeats the haunting chorus "I thought! I would! Be more! Than this!" Then there's "Fall In," a pop punk song with a catchy chorus and a dynamic rhythm moving the verses forward. It sounds like it could've come from the catalog of The Thermals. "Separation" is a blistering instrumental track with no vocals that absolutely flies by at a frenetic pace. The album standout, in my opinion, is the indie rock tune "Stay Useless." Slightly lighter than the rest of the album, but compact and sharp with a beautiful melody in the anthemic chorus. 

Attack on Memory is a powerful album, youthful and full of life. It may be heavy at points, but don't let that scare you away, it's extremely accessible and packed with fine, euphonious melodies. It's not something I would listen to when I first wake up or while I try to fall asleep, but I would definitely listen to it in the shower before a night out, or, as I detailed before, when I need to let off some steam. Sorry neighbors.

Album Highlights: Wasted Days, Stay Useless, Fall In, No Future/No Past