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Jan 25, 2012 Issue #39 - Best of 2011 By Frank Valish

Those familiar with the two- to three-minute melodic power pop blasts of Dylan Baldi’s self-titled debut as Cloud Nothings will be mighty surprised by Baldi’s sophomore offering. Coming only a year after its debut and purportedly influenced by the lengthy touring Baldi undertook since that album’s release, Attack on Memory is a completely different album than Cloud Nothings. Tracks are epic. Songs shapeshift. Baldi sings as if possessed.

The biggest shock to the system comes in the album’s first half. The opening track, “No Future/No Past” is a slow-burn and brooding build with Baldi’s scratched vocals yelling “We’re through,” before the arrangement opens up at the three-and-a-half minute mark, and the singer wails the song’s title over and again for another minute. On the nine-minute (yes, you read that right) “Wasted Days,” the power pop guitars and driving tempo of the song’s first half belie something more sinister, with lyrics of wasted days, lost time, and life’s inescapable sameness. Then things morph into a psychedelic haze for the track’s final four and a half minutes, Baldi finally shouting the title words for an extra minute for good measure. “Fall In” and “Stay Useless” are most similar to Cloud Nothings, both fast-paced melodic ragers. “Separation” is an instrumental while the album’s eighth and final song features a ripping guitar solo.

Through Attack on Memory, Baldi maintains many of his songwriting charms—the knack for melody foremost—but he’s clearly made a sharp left turn in terms of the project’s capabilities. And often the most successful songs on Attack are those that stretch Baldi’s muse the furthest. (www.myspace.com/cloudnothings)

Author rating: 7/10