Cloud Nothings is one of those groups that become popular simply because there is no other option. Too inspiring to remain hidden, too interesting to blend in with the grey scenery, too good to go unnoticed, the now trio has become one of the most talked about bands in rock’n’roll. They have the “it” factor, as cliche as it is to say. You could sense it in Dylan Baldi’s (Cloud Nothings’ driving force and primary songwriter) earlier works. On their self-titled and Turning On, we were treated to brilliant fragments…. transcendent glimpses, albeit through a lo-fi pop punk medium. On their last release however, Attack on Memory, the group broke out with sonically compelling, tension filled songs that defy categorization; anger, pain and longing ever-present. “I thought I would be more than this” screams Baldi on “Wasted Days,” and we relate because it’s something many of us have thought at one time or the other. Perhaps, we’re still thinking it.
Cloud Nothing’s 2012 show at the Ninth Ward was a game-changer. It was one of buffaBLOG’s “best of the year” shows and turned me from a fan to a super-fan. Since then, Cloud Nothings have exploded out of the buzz bin and are slowly becoming a recognizable name, especially the release of their fourth album, Here and Nowhere Else. If tonight’s show at Buffalo Iron Works ($15, 8pm) is even half the show that I witnessed at Ninth Ward, we have reason to celebrate. They’ve made it.