Cloud Nothings’ latest effort Life Without Sound sounds far more upbeat, and less “moody” than their previous few, but still bears the same conceptual and thematic overtones. “I don’t think the songs are that different,” frontman Dylan Baldi said in a recent interview with our very own Alex Galbraith. “I kind of just wanted to not be a band that made a nine minute song on every album.”
A few weeks after the release of Life Without Sound, the band definitely didn’t shy away from the nine minute songs during their show at Detroit’s El Club, as they opened their set with Here And Nowhere Else cut “Pattern Walks,” which features a long — as I like to call it — “instrumental noise break” with every member playing up and down the neck of their guitars, while drummer extraordinaire Jayson Gerycz bangs away at the drums for a few minutes, before they all break back into rhythm, anchored by bassist TJ Duke.
After playing as a three-piece since the release of 2014’s Here And Nowhere Else, the new record and current tour are the first time that we’ve had an four-piece iteration of Cloud Nothings that doesn’t feature Baldi trying to play two guitar parts simultaneously. The addition of Chris Brown as a second guitarist definitely helped to fill out the live sounds that were featured on the record, and made the loud even louder.
Cloud Nothings are an incredibly impressive live band, with an unbelievable amount of talent all packed onto one stage. They perform so effortlessly, while the audience gawks at the intricate guitar parts and unbelievable drumming. Seriously, Gerycz may have the best stamina of any drummer I’ve ever seen. And Baldi’s complete lack of interest in pleasing anyone but himself is somewhat endearing. The guy didn’t stop strumming to talk to the crowd — or even tune — once!
Their set in Detroit consisted of a selection of fan favorites from Here And Nowhere Else, as well as 2012’s apocalyptic Attack On Memory, finishing out the set with Memory‘s “Wasted Days,” which saw the biggest mosh pit of the evening and strobe lights flashing to their maximum capacity as a birthday piñata floated briefly across the top of the crowd before being ripped entirely to shred.
Bottom line is: If you have a chance to see Cloud Nothings live, don’t pass it up. Check out their remaining tour dates here.
