Cleveland, Ohio’s Cloud Nothings have a remarkable work ethic. The indie upstarts were formed as a joke by principle member Dylan Baldi in 2009, and have released three albums in the past three years. Today’s release, Attack On Memory, is undoubtedly the band’s finest. Far from wearing down in the face of a fearsome release schedule, the Cloud Nothings have continued to refine and expand their sound.

Attack On Memory may have the trappings of an attack on both the past and the future (or lack thereof), but it sounds like a post-punk manifesto. The band have cobbled together every gem, every haunting wirey guitar sound, all the warped reverb, every Throbbing Gristle and Mark E. Smith-eque blurt, all The Strokes’ effortless cool, and distilled it down into a wonderfully buoyant and commanding garage rock sound.

After a knowingly abrasive start the band unveil a series of undeniable, underachiever anthems. The sprawling “Wasted Days” is a beast, slipping from infectious indie bounce into a hypnotic and beautifully layered excursion that flirts with musique concrete before coyly pulling back. From then on in the band assault the listener with some of the most charming indie anthems of recent years. The sublime “Stay Useless” is exactly what The Strokes Angles should have sounded like, full of attitude and style, with a disenfranchised attitude but a charmingly human core. The instrumental “Separation” has a frantically snakey rhythm that remains remarkably locked in, think a middle American Arctic Monkeys/Libertines hybrid and you’re on the right tracks.

Cloud Nothings’ most impressive attribute is their ability to sound meaty and terse while retaining their willfully lo-fi and under produced aesthetic. “No Sentiment” has the deep muscularity of early metal and the warped aggression of PIL or Flipper, but it’s all rooted around a slick indie hook. “Cut You” on the other hand, is a delightful slice of driving rock that keeps it simple with an infectious yapping vocal.

In an age were the present is constantly under attack, the past is universal revered, and the future, at least on an individual level, is terrifying, Attack On Memory feels like a vital statement. The type of record the young will clutch to their chests and fall in love with. Full of disappointment, aggression and blistering drum work the Cloud Nothings never drown in depression, instead they stay urgent and cool. Attack On Memory will have fists clenching and emotions running high at that most ill defined of enemies: frustration, both internal and external. After all, few mantras are more fitting for a post-recession world than the desperate scream “I Thought I Would Be More Than This”. David Hayter

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