Cloud Nothings – Turning On – Westlake Water Color Vinyl Record

Description

It’s been 10 years since the release ofTurning On,Cloud Nothings’debut album. Singer-songwriter Dylan Baldi was just 18 years old when he began recording the album, creating each track in his parents’ basement in Cleveland, Ohio. Over one winter, Baldi produced an album of taut, lo-fi guitar-pop songs, playing each instrument himself. His music gained traction in the increasingly popular music blog circuit, allowing Baldi to book his first shows in new places, like New York City. He gathered a band together to play live, andCloud Nothingswere on their way.

The band has accomplished a great deal sinceTurning On, signing to Carpark Records, releasing seven albums, and headlining numerous international tours. Yet, their debut isn’t dusted over in the band’s history.Turning Onstill remains the stripped-back core ofCloud Nothingsstyle: raw and grungy, filled with catchy earworms that are surprisingly pop. The album carries all the stored potential of someone ready to venture off into the world, a feeling that bursts with energy even 10 years later.

All the tracks onTurning Onare eruptive and restless, its lo-fi quality embodying the desperate need to record an idea by any means necessary. Songs like “Hey Cool Kid” encapsulate Baldi’s talent for churning, hook-filled guitar. The vocals on songs like “Can’t Stay Awake” are distorted, with scattered lyrics that echo the angst of a teenage diary. As a whole, the album delivers dissonance and edge, without sacrificing the authentic romanticism of someone who is on the verge of something big and doesn’t know it yet.

A necessary album to fully understand the world ofCloud Nothings,Turning Onis a welcome return to the band’s origins before the release of their eighth album,The Shadow I Remember, in February 2021. To celebrate its10th anniversary,Turning Onis reissued here on vinyl by Carpark Records, with the album’s original track listing.

1. Can’t Stay Awake
2. Old Street
3. You Are Opening
4. Turning On
5. Hey Cool Kid
6. Water Turns Back
7. Whaddya Wanna Know
8. Real Thing
9. Strummin’