CLOUD NOTHINGS
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Wed 10 July
Cloud Nothings began life as an underground rock band – quite literally, they were born in Dylan Baldi’s parents’ basement – but have become gradually more visible with each passing release. Judging by their CV, the quartet from Cleveland, Ohio appear to be on a mission to work with all of the very best producers in the US. Having previously engaged the services of Steve Albini for 2012’s Attack On Memory and John Congleton for 2014’s superb Here And Nowhere Else, a career high whose hooks were so big you could see them from space, they turned to John Goodmanson for 2016’s more muted Life Without Sound.
In that context, the news that they had switched again, this time to metal maestro Randall Dunn, for their most recent LP sent out a clear signal – and sure enough Last Building Burning pushes everything back well into the red, clamping its jaws around your throat from the very first second and only loosening its grip temporarily during the feedback lull of 10-minute-long epic Dissolution. It’s Metz with a concession to melody; it’s pop-punk played with the speed and ferocity of first-wave hardcore.
Previously the question was whether they could capture the intensity of their live performances on record; now it’s whether they can reproduce the intensity of their latest record live.
Tickets: £12. Info: 029 2023 2199
words Ben Woolhead