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Review: Kevin Tappin

To understand what Dylan Baldi was trying to achieve with his band’s second album, you don’t have to look any further than “No Sentiment.” He begins the song with the lines, “We started a war/ Attack on memory/ No easy way out/ Forget everything,” not only revealing the album’s namesake, but also putting things into perspective. In a brief interview with Pitchfork [link], Baldi explained how important it was to him to separate the band’s debut from the radically new sound. It became apparent at the release of “No Future/No Past” that change was inevitable. The difference took only a year, and I would be a fool to tell you they didn’t succeed. But at the same time, Cloud Nothings succeeded in establishing a strong theme of removal at all cost.

Attack On Memory almost overwhelmingly plays into feelings of angst. Teenagers dealing with the daily trials of immature peers and adults who don’t understand would eat this up. The songs on this album carry a general sense of aggression and reflection upon where life is headed. While they don’t go so far as to plainly beg for death, they do show desire for a violent change from the status quo. Sung alongside additional commentary from Baldi’s need to separate his past and present albums (“Essential/ It’ll never get old/ There’s no time/ For another try”), the chorus of “Our Plans” continues a heavy focus on the here and now: “No one knows our plans for us/ We won’t last long.”

Baldi is far from lamenting the changes he’s made. “Cut You” is the closest thing to it, sounding like a longing for a truly fucked up relationship. This also plays to the teenager angle, though, as the aggression that is so essential to Baldi’s sound slips closer to a feeling of hate. It’s the farthest their sound goes in that direction, almost reminiscing in the sensations of a broken but still beating heart. On the flipside, that same aggression is used as a mockery of compliance in “Fall In.” It’s a tool carefully used to maintain consistency in songwriting while allowing for inventive delivery.

Indeed, the band worked hard to separate itself from its past. After Cloud Nothings, they were pegged for their lo-fi sound and their condensed songs. While the length of each album is similar, there’s an elephant in the room by way of “Wasted Days.” It best epitomizes the changes set forth by Baldi, burning every bridge on the way. It’s easy to take the hint after the nearly nine-minute song closes out with him, ironically, shouting “I thought I would be more than this.” It is the antithesis to everything the band used to be and the biggest sign of change and, ultimately, improvement. The song accomplishes so much in the take that it plays. Amid its aggression is assertion. When people try so hard to “become” something, the hardest part can be telling people what you’re not. But this song so effectively grabs hold of that concept and throttles it, giving hope to anyone hoping to change who they are for the best. Baldi’s cries sound more like an anthem. Change becomes the greatest thing we could hope to accomplish. Just look how much it’s done for them.

Rating: [8.8/10]