Cleveland Punks Cloud Nothings Will Compel You to Pogo at Modernsky Lab, Apr 14

Beijing music fans' hearts sank when gig promoter Split Works' plans to bring indie rock darling Angel Olsen to the Mainland recently fell through. And while concert cancellations are par for the course in China, Split Works thankfully worked to give us sweet consolation by booking an equally enticing show for April: Cleveland, Ohio's punk troupe, Cloud Nothings.

Featuring the yearning-yet-rugged vocals and snarling guitar of frontman Dylan Baldi, along with the equally thrilling – but underrated – pummeling percussion of Jayson Gerycz (the lineup is rounded out by keyboardist and guitarist Chris Brown and bassist TJ Duke), Cloud Nothings somehow crafted simultaneously pure and accessible punk on albums like this year's Life Without Sound and 2014's Here and Nowhere Else.

And while the band's highly acclaimed 2012 Attack on Memory put the band on the map, Cloud Nothings has been growing a steady fan base and plenty of buzz since they formed 2009. But those new to their music might be surprised to realize that the group started as a ruse by a once bored Baldi.

Earlier articles describe Baldi as a weekend warrior who would record songs on GarageBand back when he was in university. He'd subsequently dream up fake bands and create Myspace pages for them, posting the songs and waiting to see what the response would be. When a New York City promoter came across one of those the Myspace page of one of those fake bands – Cloud Nothings – he reached out and invited them to perform for more established acts like Woods and Real Estate at Brooklyn's Market Hotel.

Instead of coming clean, Baldi seized the opportunity, recruiting bandmates for the gig, which took place in December 2009. It went so well that Baldi quickly dropped out of college to focus on what had become a dream come true in every sense of the word.

Within five years Cloud Nothings' success in punk community was anything but imaginary. Here and Nowhere Else topped many critics' "best of the year" lists in 2014, with one reviewer calling it "heavy ... and catchy as hell." When they followed that up with Life Without Sound in January of this year, a critic from Pretty Much Amazing enthused: "It seems as though Dylan Baldi has effectively evolved from a musical loner to a mature frontman of a fully formed and cohesive band."

Cloud Nothings' live sets also have a strong reputation. One reviewer described how the band incited the "pogo pit before their first chorus." A statement from Split, meanwhile, reads: "On stage, Cloud Nothings are spry and jumpy and tense – pedal-to-the-floor, tension-igniting rock ’n’ roll. For the faithful, it’s a slice of pop-punk Nirvana."

That means one thing, Beijing music fiends: start stretching your hamstrings, and get good and limber so you can be ready for the pogo pit of this heavy, high-energy punk gig.

Cloud Nothings will perform at Modernsky Lab on April 14 at 8.30pm. Tickets are RMB 120 presale, RMB 150 at the door. To get your hands on some, click here.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photo: Self-Titled Mag