Albums of the Decade - 41. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory (2012)

41. CLOUD NOTHINGS - ATTACK ON MEMORY (2012)

"I THOUGHT I WOULD BE MORE THAN THIIIIIIIIIIS!" screams Dylan Baldi on Wasted Days" - a 9 minute epic of feeling deep inside ones own filth - an existential nightmare - a putrid stain on humanity. This is the standout track from one of the bands of the decade - a screechy, kick-up-the-jams punk band with great pop hooks.

"Fall In" - the track that follows it - has a drive that propels it past ska- but makes me wanna do just that - immerse myself in the crash, rattle and roll. This is a proper band that takes influences like Smashing Pumpkins and Thin Lizzy and straps on dynamite, sherbert and apple cider vinegar to explode something that is all at once bitter, dangerous but frothy sweet.

Snotty punk. Dylan Baldi is not a brat. He is just mis-under-fucking-stood, like a lot of us. I never used to like shouty-shout until I witnessed this - now I'm fully on board - I almost went to Berlin a couple of years ago, solely to see them, but instead kicked the can in my dead-end job, only to grow more frustrated, only to play Cloud Nothing more, only to increase their value and effect with no mercy to spare.

Albums Of The Decade - 88. Cloud Nothings - Life Without Sound

88. CLOUD NOTHINGS - LIFE WITHOUT SOUND

Stuttgart, Germany, 2017 - I felt low from the get-go moving there, especially considering I'd just left Asia after living there for six years. I had a landlady who was criticising my predecessor by saying he urinated on the sofa, when in fact it was a coffee stain. I started an office based job as a trainer and the whole year sucked my soul dry - the only good thing about the company is that they had sparkling water on tap - so you pop in your lemon wedge and at least there's salvation.

Luckily this album came around at an apt time, at the top of the year, and accompanied me right throughout; when coping with the perils of hedonism, when needing a soundtrack to run up the hill to, when lyrics are key to capturing questions about ones own existence. The strightforward lyrics, coupled with some of the best hooks in punk, allowed for one of the records I am thankful for most in the last 10 years. It picked me up when I was down, and there'll be more of this band on the list. No spoilers :)

Albums of 2012 - 11. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

11. CLOUD NOTHINGS - ATTACK ON MEMORY 

Where I come from, if you like screams in your music you'd be called a "mosher." I have never been one of those but this album may change that. We have eight tracks here that are fuzzy, scuzzy that are perfect to fall into.

"Fall In" for example is a jolly good example of an upbeat number that would perhaps even get this writer in a mosh-pit.  However it's not really representative of the overall sentiment on display here, and that is self-hatred, self-disgust and the like. The epic, epic "Wasted Days" displays the amazing line "I thought I would be more than this" as Dylan Baldi wails over and over again.

Steve Albini produced this album and the sound opus he has made is magnificent. I hope he works with the band again to make such colossal music.