Cleveland Rocks: Cloud Nothings and Extra Medium Pony

     I have another resolution for 2013. In my White Stripes post, I lamented that I lived in Detroit during the garage rock revival of the '00's and completely missed out on it. Now I'm in danger of doing the same thing here in Cleveland. There are several good bands in the Northeast Ohio area and I haven't gone to see any of them. Well, I did see my friend Dave's band, May Company, open for Yuck at the Grog Shop, but I was already going before they got the gig. Currently, I love a band called Extra Medium Pony who I heard on WRUW. I haven't been able to track down a physical copy of their album, 11868, but I've streamed it from their website and it's awesome. They also have a video for a song called "Junk Yard" which is reminiscent of "About A Girl" Nirvana. Check it out on Youtube. However, I haven't gone to see them. So my resolution is to get out and experience the local music scene.
     The most exciting band in the Cleveland music scene are Cloud Nothings. I have blown several opportunities to see them and this has to stop. I don't remember now where I first heard the song "Hey Cool Kid" (it was either WRUW or Pitchfork), but it was love at first listen. I've bought everything by Cloud Nothings that I can get my hands on; Turning On, Self-titled and Attack On Memory.
     Cloud Nothings started out as Dylan Baldi making music on a computer in his parents basement in Westlake, Ohio. The early stuff is quite raw and lo-fi, mainly out of necessity. "Hey Cool Kid" created some buzz and demand for shows, so he put a band together. Now Cloud Nothings are an actual band who found themselves working with the legendary Steve Albini on their last album, Attack On Memory. This combination lead to a quantum leap in the Cloud Nothings sound, similar to Guided by Voices going from 4 track recordings to Do The Collapse and Isolation Drills. The results are very good with standout tracks like "Stay Useless" and "Cut You". The songs on Attack On Memory, in general, are longer and have more dynamic range. I'm really looking forward to their next album and hopefully seeing them live.
     Speaking of the local scene, I went to the Rock Hall yesterday and saw the new inductee exhibit which, of course, includes Rush. My love of Rush is well established on this blog and seeing their items on display at the Rock Hall was an emotional experience. Among the items were Alex's 1976 double neck Gibson, one of Ged's bass guitars and one of Neil's cymbals which was as large as a shield. Unfortunately, their names weren't on the wall yet. I'll go back in a couple weeks to check again. When I actually see their names on that wall I'm probably going to cry... and I'm not a crier. After last year, I had given up hope that they'd ever get in, but they finally made it. I know in the grand scheme of things it shouldn't have mattered, but it did. Peace.


Watch Extra Medium Pony Video
Extra Medium Pony: Junk Yard You Tube Video