The current tour and album cycles to which most bands adhere these days is just far too long. Band’s who release albums with rapidity have far stronger discographies and seem better built for the long haul, and that’s certainly the case with Ohio trio Cloud Nothings. For fifteen years they’ve been fuzzing up our world with their delectable brand of indie rock and have left a tantalising trail of vinyl in their wake. Their latest long player finds them continuing an upward curve and Final Summer could take things off the graph.

With its ominous (and slightly discombobulating) electronic introduction, opening track ‘Final Summer’ creates an air that is just as forbidding as its title. Yet, when Cloud Nothings appear on the horizon with jangly guitar and driving beat it feels as if the nimbus has parted and golden rays are peering through. It’s one of those sticky types of songs, and one that will haunt you all day, not unlike a bee buzzing around your cranium. It is an interesting tension of opposites between light and shade, dissonance and melody, the loud and quiet that make Cloud Nothings such an intriguing proposition, and all these elements will fuse and fracture as the album progresses, making for a multifaceted listen, and one that shines sonics in all directions.

Cloud Nothings are a band who draw from a wide range of influences and pull emo, post-punk and noise rock into their sound, and when condensed into perfect three-minute songs suggests that Cloud Nothings are the natural successors to Sonic Youth. As with many of the band’s influences (Wipers, the Lemonheads, Deerhunter), this Cleveland crew never lose sight of song structure and melody which render cuts such as ‘Mouse Policy’ and ‘Thank Me For Playing’ earworm material, despite their sombre lyricism. It’s another example of the duality which characterises the band’s work and makes closer ‘Common Mistake’ (and indeed, the whole album) an infinitely interesting experience.

A perfect example of a band keeping their powder dry and the iron hot, Final Summer has an urgency and a sense of purpose that much modern music lacks, and that’s precisely what elevates Cloud Nothings above the pack.

• Final Summer is released via Pure Noise Records on 19th April 2024.
• Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | YouTube Channel

Track List:

1. Final Summer
2. Daggers Of Light
3. I’d Get Along
4. Mouse Policy
5. Silence
6. Running Through The Campus
7. The Golden Halo
8. Thank Me For Playing
9. On The Chain
10. Common Mistake