Cloud Nothings: Attack on Memory

Label: Carpark

Whoa. And here I was, running around, calling Dylan Baldi a wuss. Listening to Cloud Nothing's newest album, Attack on Memory, is a bit of an eye-opener -- sorta like finding out your doddering old grandpa is a crack CIA ninja. Maybe it's the production work by Steve Albini (good ol' King Caustic himself), maybe it's that Baldi got fed up of being pigeon-holed as a dream-pop enthusiast, maybe it's none of the above. Maybe Attack on Memory is the most blistering thing I've heard in the last few months, I dunno. This is emo with a capital E, and I ain't talkin' about the crap they play at Hot Topic. I mean Fugazi, Unwound, '90s era heart-in-mouth, blood-on-chin emo. Baldi delivers his impassioned screeds with a rawness that would make Kurt Cobain bob his head in empathy. If you survive the eight-plus minutes of track two ("Wasted Days"), keep your head up -- there's always the not-so-sweet nothings of the vicious "Cut You" to close the record.