Cloud Nothings - Hey Cool Kid

When the ‘slacker’ label was first attached to lo-fi music it was because of an assumption that the bands didn’t care about the quality of the actual recordings as long as their songs sounded good. For others the sound was just a consequence of capturing their music in the cheapest and most practical way.

These days it is an entirely aesthetic choice, the same as using a certain guitar or effects pedal because of the sounds they create. For some artists, such as Times New Viking and No Age, it works very well. It’s a reference to scenes that have influenced them but at the same time it is vital to the new music they are making.

Others have used the lack of fidelity to hide poor songwriting or attempt to gain indie credibility. Unfortunately, Cloud Nothings seem to be committing both of these crimes on their single ‘Hey Cool Kid’. The lead track and the b-side are sketches of songs that are nice enough to hum along to but there isn’t much substance besides garage pop guitars and some faded vocals. It might be even nicer to sing along to if you could make out all the words. The verses and choruses hang together and it leaves the impression the whole thing needs a bit more work.

It is still easy to apply the word slacker to this single, but it would be for all of its negative connotations.