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Drape this record in plaid, grow its hair past its shoulders and give it some ill-fitting jeans, because Attack On Memory is grunge. From the churning, super-fuzz bass riff in opener No Future/No Past and anguished screams in Wasted Days to the raw drum sound Steve Albini capably coaxes from these Clevelanders, all the trademarks are here, filtered through frontman’s Dylan Baldi’s snappy power pop talents.
Cloud Nothings made their entry in 2011 with the blitz of rapid-fire, throaty songs found on their lo-fi self-titled debut. On Attack, songs are more stretched out, with aggressive bass lines and angrier lyrics. The tune Separation goes through at least eight different hard-charging parts but stays under three minutes. Stay Useless is the album’s pearl, a combination of Baldi’s catchiest vocals and this new, abrasive direction.
Top track: Stay Useless
