Cloud Somethings

The Cloud Nothings shredded Sister Bar last Friday, essentially rendering the band they were opening for (Cursive) an afterthought. I've always thought the Cleveland thrashers drew heavily from the Replacements and Paul Westerberg's songs and vocal style. (Though, like every band since the '80s, they are missing that essential element of the Replacements: Bob Stinson's guitar genius.) The Cloud Nothings, one of the most vital bands of the past decade, remind me of the Replacements in the same way that Nirvana did when they launched their polished big-label album "Nevermind."

Dylan Baldi and the boys launched into "Now Hear In," the opening track from 2014's "Here and Nowhere Else," and we were off to the races.



The band positioned drummer Jayson Gerycz up front with the others, and the machine-like assault on his compact kit was mesmerizing. The band displayed a measured improvisational ease with each other. They would speed up and slow down songs in sync, and their goal for the night seemed to be to feel out a song, deconstruct it and then somehow put it back together without losing their mutual thread. Impressive. This might be the most the most melodic of their Westerbergian recordings, "I'm Not Part of Me."



Here's a full set from the Pitchfork festival in 2014: