Tympanogram Grade: B+

The impending end of a person’s teenage years is an awkward time for anyone. Ideals that were held dear growing up are challenged, new ideas are constantly being introduced and incorporated. As a result, individuals can change drastically in a matter of months. For Cloud Nothings, that sort of change is evident in the band’s music, even if it’s not true in their personal lives. Attack On Memory is not a complete overhaul in the sound they’ve cultivated to this point in their career, but it represents a different trajectory, certainly.

The band’s self-titled 2011 debut marked off a corner of the lo-fi/punk market for the Cleveland four-piece. It was a burst of snotty energy, dressed down in Converse and an attitude of underdog entitlement; Cloud Nothings was confident and quick in its catchiness.

Attack On Memory, however, while it retains much of that attitude, proves that the band can do more than write two-minute screeds railing against the popular kids in his high school. Dylan Baldi, the force behind Cloud Nothings, has been hurt, and he’s unafraid to let that natural heartbreak work itself out on its own terms. It’s a universal truth: the end of teenaged love is a fertile ground for crappy art, although in the case of Cloud Nothings, it ends up being pretty damn spectacular.

The album starts off fairly innocuously, although if you’re familiar with Cloud Nothings, the opening piano strains might be off putting. “No Future/No Past” takes a long wind-up, meandering through the same, simple lyrics (“give up, come to, no, we’re through”) on its way to Baldi’s explosive conclusion of “no future, no past.” It’s a different take on what Cloud Nothings can do, and then the band follows it up with the extensive “Wasted Days,” a nearly nine-minute expanse, with a five-and-a-half-minute instrumental in the middle.

Taken together, those two songs comprise nearly 40% of the album’s 34 minutes, but the rest of the album, while comprising only of 6 songs, is no slouch. While it will sound more familiar to fans of the band than the first two songs, it finds the band at the most pop-centric (“Stay Useless”) and sing-along-able (“Fall In”); in short, the band has obviously started to grow up, and are much more capable at song-writing than their back catalog of brevity would let on.

Attack On Memory is passionate, angry, throaty, and catchy in all the right ways. Thematically it might be well-worn, but to expect more from a tandem of late-teen/early twentysomethings would be misguided. These guys are running across familiar lyrical ground, but they’re capable enough to do it in a compelling way. It’s a great next step for a band that could easily have been dismissed as a garage/punk one-off after their first album.

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Cloud Nothings // No Sentiment [mp3] from Attack On Memory

Following the trajectory of the musical output of Liars is an interesting undertaking, and certainly not for the faint of heart or those without patience. They tended towards the more experimental with their earlier work, opting for a more focused sound on their self-titled 2007 release, and 2010′s Sisterworld found them bringing back a bit more of the craziness.

Great news everyone! It looks like the surreal, dada, experimental, highly cryptic, noisy, general all hell breaking loose is coming back. The band has started a tumblr site that seems to be leaving the most obscure trail of bread crumbs possible. Every week since just before the beginning of the year, they have been quietly posting strange pictures, apparently from the recording process. There are videos of fruit hooked up to recording equipment, Angus Andrew riding a bike, and other strange things that could be perfectly in place in a David Lynch film. If you’d like to try and put the pieces together, be our guest. Some posts have been disappearing mysteriously as well, so you might want to bookmark it and check it obsessively until the album is released. I’m guessing it’s going to be…interesting. Perhaps it will be along the lines of their finest work to date (in my opinion) Drums Not Dead.

Check out the tumblr here.

Here’s a video from Liars’ 2010 release “Sisterworld”

Since the 2010 Foxes in Fiction full-length effort, Swung from The Branches, we have seen a number of small releases from the Toronto solo artist. The EP Alberto was the most notable, as it was a significant progression for Warren Hildebrand under his band’s moniker. Showcasing his ability to experiment with atmospheric, lofty synths and guitars overlaid with his reverb-laden vocals, Hildebrand created coherent, memorable songs.

Late in 2011, Hildebrand put his trademark dreamy spin on the Felt track “The World is as Soft as Lace.” All too often we hear covers that remove elements of an original that made it great to begin with, but on this track we hear the complete opposite. Hildebrand somehow accentuates the slow, romantic, whispery feel of the original, making his attempt arguably better. At this time it’s not clear whether this is a stand-alone track or if it will be included on an official release, but never the less it is a sign of great things to come for Foxes in Fiction in 2012.

[mp3] Foxes In Fiction // The World Is As Soft As Lace (Felt Cover)

You can download the Alberto EP as well as all other releases by Foxes in Fiction for free at the Bandcamp page linked below.

Foxes in Fiction // tumblr | Facebook | web | Bandcamp

Here is an animated video for Wilco’s “Dawned On Me,” off 2011′s The Whole Love. It’s an animated affair, featuring cartoon versions of the band alongside a certain spinach-eating character and his mates.

Since being released a week ago, I’ve been allowing the new track from Jana Hunter and her band Lower Dens, entitled “Brains,” to marinate within mine. Amidst the soupy brain matter of forgotten memories and useless sports knowledge, the track has not gained the same footing as Hunter’s prior Dens’ work. That said, doing such a thing would be difficult.

[mp3] Lower Dens // Brains

On 2010′s Twin-Hand Movement there is an abundance of woozy guitar work and raw textures. “Brains” on the other hand feels more subtle and motorik, slowly building behind the steady pacing. The track is the lead single from the upcoming second LP Nootropics, which is due out in late April on Ribbon Music – a label which also boasts the likes of Laura Marling, Black Dice, and personal favorite John Maus. A 10″ single will precede the LP, and will feature “Brains” as well as two other cuts.

Spanish Prisoners are looking to head out on a tour of the country, and they need a van to do it. They’ve started a Kickstarter drive to get the funds necessary for a tour van, looking to make stops in Austin for SxSW and perhaps a visit here at the foot of Lake Ontario? Help them out after you watch the above video from Breakthru Radio, and their official fundraiser video below.

“Has This Hit” isn’t a new track from King Krule per se, as it came out back in 2010 when he was still performing under the Zoo Kid moniker. But this version of the song, aged a couple of years and now recorded live in Brooklyn and Converse’s Rubber Tracks studio, showcases Marshall’s obvious talent, along with the band he plays with.

The track is wise beyond Marshall’s not-even-eighteen years lyrically, and displays a hurt that people his age shouldn’t have to feel, let alone be able to articulate. Musically, the band never gets in the way of Marshall’s emoting. The song is withering in its content, but shows off brighter influences as well, particularly in the extended instrumental section toward the end of the song.

King Krule’s self-titled debut EP was one of my favorite releases of last year, and hearing this cut doesn’t do much to diminish my excitement for an eventual album.

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King Krule // Has This Hit (Live at Converse Rubber Tracks) [mp3]