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THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014
DIVERSIONS
ON THE SITE
THE FUTURE IS NOW Staff writer Jonathan Raeder says the fourth album from Baltimore band Future Islands is a beautiful slice of indie pop. Visit diamondbackonline.com for more.
THROUGH THE PAST, DARKLY Cloud Nothings and Nickel Creek return with albums that look to the past and find both pain and strength in memory REVIEW | CLOUD NOTHINGS
REVIEW | NICKEL CREEK
CLOUD NOTHINGS’ Dylan Baldi, seen here in the video for “Fall In” from Attack on Memory, continues his aural assault on nostalgia on the band’s new album Here and Nowhere Else, but tempers his cynicism with a newfound sense of maturity. photo courtesy of weallwantsomeone.org
the members OF NICKEL CREEK — Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins — have all found individual success in the music industry but they do their best work as a trio, as superb reunion album A Dotted Line proves. photo courtesy of sandiegoreader.com
By Jonathan Raeder @jmraeder Staff writer In new album Here and Nowhere Else, Cloud Nothings continues its transformation from dreamy bedroom pop to cynical garage punk that began with 2012’s Attack on Memory. Louder and dirtier than anything the band has released before, the new record is a gray, roiling mass of noisy guitars and snarled vocals. While Attack on Memory was aptly filled with attacks on those who succumb to nostalgia and sentimentality, Here and Nowhere Else chronicles a different way of dwelling on the past. The songs tackle regret, anger — particularly anger toward the person you used to be — and the fight to avoid being sucked into the past. Frontman Dylan Baldi relies on repetition to hammer his points home, shouting the same line over and over with an increasingly strained voice and progressively louder instrumentation. He creates a cacophonic wall of aggression and frustration that’s surprisingly catchy, as on the choruses of “Quieter Today” and “Psychic Trauma.” The album also has a strange sense of optimism woven
throughout, deeply buried as it is. Baldi is angry, sure, but it’s nothing he can’t deal with. All the loudness on the album can get grating. The eight songs aren’t quite as distinctive as Attack on Memory’s, with most relying on a similar tempo and dynamic. Here and Nowhere Else isn’t as immediately accessible and could be too noisy and unpolished for listeners averse to garage rock and lo-fi music. But the album is well-produced — producer John Congleton, channeling Attack on Memory producer Steve Albini, has built a soundscape that is undeniably professional, if occasionally muddled. Baldi has commented in interviews that lyrics aren’t too important to the band, admitting he sometimes even jots them down the day before songs are recorded. It’s emblematic of the band’s lo-fi aesthetic, but the lyrics aren’t bad despite being rushed. The whole album exudes a sense of restless anger, a desire to improve and move on with life despite the same flaws holding you back again and again. Baldi is content to riff on these themes for the length of the album but still manages to find interesting things to say. The album’s best track is lead single and closer “I’m Not Part
of Me,” which encapsulates the band’s entire body of work so far. Featuring insightful lyrics such as, “I’m learning how to be here and nowhere else” and, “I’m not telling you all I’m going through/ I feel fine,” the song suggests though Cloud Nothings is far from anger free, it’s maturing and finding better ways of channeling emotion. It’s a wise reminder that the process of appreciating the moment without wallowing in the past or worrying about the future is an ongoing one. Baldi describes the song in an interview with DIY as “just taking little pieces of everything you’ve done and figuring out what makes you happy and fulfilled.” It’s quite a leap for the man who just two years ago screamed, “I thought I would be more than this.” Cloud Nothings is still a young band — Baldi is still in his early 20s — making whatever music it wants without attempting to capitalize on trends. I’m interested to see them define their sound, even if it never makes as drastic a change as the one between its first two albums. Cloud Nothings is growing up — and making better music. jraederdbk@gmail.com
By Eric Bricker @EricCBricker Senior staff writer In the near-decade since pop-bluegrass act Nickel Creek’s last full album — 2005’s excellent Why Should the Fire Die? — the band’s members have carved their own musical successes and identities: Mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile worked alongside Yo-Yo Ma and formed the highly successful Punch Brothers; guitarist Sean Watkins lent his talents to Fiction Family; and fiddler Sara Watkins released a string of solo albums and toured with artists including The Decemberists and Jackson Browne. Though they’ve taken so much time away from one another, all three sound right at home on A Dotted Line, Nickel Creek’s triu m p h a n t re t u r n . T h e album finds the bluegrass wunderkinds at their most mature, marrying their signature lush harmonies and intricate arrangements with a surprisingly affecting turn towards minimalism. Take the album-opening one-two punch of “Rest of My Life” and “Destination.” “Rest
of My Life” swings beautifully between plaintive strumming and pointed finger-picking while Sara Watkins’ lilting harmonies layer effortlessly behind Thile’s bluesy, hungover vocals (“Here we all lie/ In a dry sea of Solo cups/ With the sun in our eyes”). “Destination,” meanwhile, finds Sara leading a driving call and response: “This time I’ve got no hesitation/ and I’ll be movin’ on.” Lyrically, these two set the tone for A Dotted Line, a golden ode to melancholy that finds the older, wiser Nickel Creek grappling with the steady passage of time, the crumbling of relationships and the lasting sting of regrets. “Christmas Eve” delicately spins the tale of a holiday break-up before building to a huge, sweeping refrain (“Please darling wait/ It’s not all over yet”) that flits between joyous and heartbreaking, drunkenly desperate and cautiously optimistic. Elsewhere, Thile and the Watkins siblings play with the sort of indie rock arrangements that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Punch Brothers or Fiction Family record: “You Don’t Know What’s Going On” is
a straight-up pop-punk cut, a skittering, up-tempo shoutalong that finds Thile spitting fiery accusations like a halfbroken machine gun, while “Love of Mine” lets him step into the sort of heartbreaking balladeer role his sugary, leading-man voice demands. A Dotted Line isn’t all so grim. The couple of instrumental tracks (“Elsie” and “Elephant in the Corn”) are spry and sunny, a welcome reminder of the trio’s classical backgrounds, while “Hayloft” — a surprisingly faithful cover of a truly awful B-52s pastiche by Canada’s Mother Mother — finds the group playfully reveling in countrypop’s worst excesses. Though the Watkins duo and Thile have made sizable contributions to Americana and bluegrass individually, A Dotted Line is a powerful, instantly likable reminder of how much they have to offer as a collective. Alternately heartbreaking and smile-inducing, dauntingly virtuosic and accessibly poppy, A Dotted Line is a return to form for some of progressive bluegrass’ once and future saviors. ebrickerdbk@gmail.com
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EMPLOYMENT
WANTED:
Pre-Med Student
to serve as Medical Assistant in my office. The ideal candidate is one who plans to take a year off between senior year and med school. Email Scott at westhocomed@gmail.com. Student with car needed to help with local driving/errands starting 3/31. rsseilerjr@verizon.net Part-time counter/cashier help. Hourly pay plus tips. 3 miles from campus. 301-3466227 or mikepc1@comcast.net.
Lifeguard Job
Port Annapolis Marina,
located at 7074 Bembe Beach Rd., Annapolis, MD 21403, is currently accepting applications for certified lifeguards at seasonal pool. May 24th-Sept. 1st. Minimum 16 years old. Current American Red Cross Lifeguard Training, CPR/FPR, First Aid or equivalent. Good pay, flexible hours. Contact 410-269-1990 or linda@portannapolis.com.
A-1 Uniforms PT/FT – $12-14/hour. M-F no evenings/no weekends. Qualified bookkeeper with experience with Quickbooks. Located in Hyattsville. Email resume to info@a1uniforms.com or call 301-277-9100.
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SCIENCE FICTION: The future may be beautiful, terrible, bewildering. People will have to deal with it somehow, in Remembering the Future: science fiction stories by Alan Kovski. Available via Amazon.com.
One block from campus – early signing bonus: $1000! Three residential houses in University Hills. Available June 1. 5 bedrooms, central ac, dishwasher, washer/dryer. Great location for students in team sports (lacrosse, soccer). RENT range from $3200 up. Dr. Kruger: 301-408-4801.
THESIS EDITING — Dissertations, term papers. Style manual experts. 301-4746000. www.CompuMediaUSA.com/ academic
SCIENCE FICTION: First came the physical changes, spread by viruses carrying recombinant DNA. Then came the memories. Wonders and Tragedies, a science fiction novel, is by Alan Kovski. Available via Amazon.com.
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SCIENCE FICTION: A wilderness may be prowled by creatures of the forest. Or it may be urban, highly cultured, and just as deadly. Wilderness, a science fiction novel, is by Alan Kovski. Available via Amazon.com.
FOR RENT
Dental Office for Rent Bowie, MD. 1000 square feet. Built-
2014-2015 Final Renting Year!
out dental office: 3 operating rooms, lab, office, and reception area.
Call 301-262-7500.
SFH. College Park. Off University Blvd./Metzerott Road. $2100/month plus utilities. Parking for 4. 1 year lease. Avail. July 1. Call 410-827-5997. Summer rental – The Varsity. 1 bedroom, private bath within a 4 bedroom. Furnished. May 23-August 2, $1600 total. Maddy, 240-401-8706. Available August. Rooms in new house. Walking distance to campus. Washer, dryer, internet, cable, free parking, common area furnished. Call Rich, 240-423-1626. Houses for rent. Walking distance to campus. Go to WWW.CPHOUSE4RENT.COM.
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Offfer Valid through April 30, 2014. See store for details. Cannot be combined with other offers.
Waiter/Waitress Needed
Full/part-time positions available. Seeking qualified candidates to join dynamic and fun team. To apply, contact 301-908-0688 or email LynnTu@yahoo.com. VETERINARY ASSISTANT – Evenings a n d Sa t urd a ys. S i l ve r S pri ng, MD . $ 1 8 / h o u r. 3 01- 439 -94 4 4 .
CHILD CARE Occasional sitter for 11 yo. Bowie. Can provide transportation. $12/hour. Refs. required. Call Jill or Karla, 301-560-1775.
Don’t Drink and Drive. Call a Cab – It’s Cheaper Than Our Fees.
COCHRAN & CHHABRA
116B Cathedral St. • Annapolis, MD 21401 410-268-5515 • www.cochranandchhabra.com