Cloud Nothings

Cleveland, OH's Dylan Baldi is only 18 years old, but he's already released a handful of limited releases, signed to Carpark and recorded his debut album (out in January 2011). Forming Cloud Nothings just a year ago (now a full band), he's amassed an impressive catalogue that this year alone has resulted in this compilation. Turning On collects the EP of the same name, along with a few seven-inches and a split cassette. All of these were released in 2010, which just goes to show that he's got one mean prolific streak. Baldi writes scrappy, coming-of-age-type songs that are so efficient he usually cuts out the chorus. Still, he's heavy on supplying hooks, be it with a titular refrain, like on the title track, or by hanging them on a guitar riff, as he does on "Can't Stay Awake." As a lo-fi practitioner, Turning On doesn't feel so much like a comp as it does an actual full-length, which for anyone who digs this, bodes well for the promise of his first true LP.