Honestly, I shouldn’t like Cloud Nothings. They have that way-too-much distortion sound, which I’ve already stated I’m not a fan of, along with the standard rock set up (vocals, guitars, bass, drums). They bring nothing all that new or original to the table, borrowing their sound from the indie rock gene pool. There’s just something about this group, though. I can’t seem to stop listening to them.
It doesn’t hurt that Turning On is consistently catchy. Even through the slightly pretentious lo-fi static and haze, eight solid pop-rock songs can be heard. Usually, I’m not a fan of bands that intentionally mask their work behind low-quality recordings, but in this case, it works in the favor of Cloud Nothings. The record would definitely lose its thrown-together feeling–one of its best features–if high quality recording equipment had been used.
At only eight songs, and under half an hour in length, this band doesn’t give you a chance to get sick of their fuzzy sound–a very smart move on their part–even though it was probably done unintentionally. They probably didn’t have any more songs when putting Turning On together, so they settled on the fairly short length. It doesn’t matter what the reasons are that this record entered its final state, though, all that matters is that as a record, its short length works to its advantage.
Jangly guitars and washed out vocals abound, as all eight tracks blend together well. While the entire album is fairly catchy, Whaddya Wanna Know sticks out as a great example of why Cloud Nothings’ spin on indie rock is so good. A simple beat joins together with a repetitive cry of the title of the song, which is guaranteed to stick in your head for quite a while. Cloud Nothings have it figured out; make catchy music, and people will listen.
Swole Ear 
One Response to “Day 37: Cloud Nothings – Turning On”