#166 (of 365) "I'm Not Part of Me" Cloud Nothings

I think my musical fandom can be divided into four distinct periods:

1. College era alternative: The Smiths, The Cure, New Order, REM, Dinosaur Jr, Jesus & Mary Chain
2. Post-college indie rock (before I knew what indie rock was): Superchunk, Pavement, Sebadoh, Archers of Loaf, Built to Spill
3. Indie Rock Era (2001-2013): Wolf Parade, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Sunset Rubdown, basically most of the bands that fill out this chart
4. Modern Era (2013-now): Car Seat Headrest, Day Wave, Beach Fossils, Cloud Nothings, Big Thief, Alvvays, Joyce Manor

The Modern Era started in essence with three releases: Cloud Nothings' Attack on Memory (2012); The World is a Beautiful Place's Whenever, If Ever (2013); and Joyce Manor's Never Hungover Again (2014).

I discovered Joyce Manor as an opening act in January 2013 and definitely caught up with their debut from 2011 that year. I discovered The World Is later that summer in Hoboken with the release of Whenever, If Ever. And I discovered Cloud Nothings through "Stay Useless" mostly from their 2012 release, but not until the summer of 2013, and all three bands in retrospect started to turn the page for me to newer acts with (mostly) guys in the early 20s who grew up in the indie rock boom of the previous decade and were making their own music in conversation with all of that.

Of all the bands in this "Modern Era", my favorite (right now at least) is either Joyce Manor or Cloud Nothings, and I've seen them both at least a dozen times in concert. It was this lead track off Cloud Nothings' second full-length, 2014's "Here and Nowhere Else" that solidified my interest in the band, which turned into a decade-long obsession. And they never disappoint. Sure, the earlier albums had the purest tracks, my favorites I still go back to. But even the ones from last year are strong, and they always put on an incredible show. I've been wearing their T-shirt that I got at a show this summer a lot lately, and at least four different times someone has commented to me how much they like the band, but also that "you don't see that many shirts of theirs". Not as many fans. They're still playing fairly small venues and (for unknown reasons) opening for lesser acts (in my opinion) so I don't know how much longer they will keep doing this. But I will love them as long as they can. 

​It starts right now...

"I'm Not Part of Me" - Cloud Nothings // Here and Nowhere Else (2014)