The release of Nothing’s second full length Tired of Tomorrow was no walk in the park. Last may frontman Domenic Palermo got beat up after a Nothing gig. The attack left him in the hospital with fractured bones, a fractured skull and lots of free time to write new songs. In ‘Vertigo Flowers’, Palermo describes the dizziness he suffered after the attack, while ‘Eaten by Worms’ deals with the heavy painkiller cocktail he was on in the hospital. Later last year, Palermo lost his father with whom he had only recently made up. On top of that, the band got caught up in the whole Martin Shkreli story. Nothing’s label Collect Records turned out to be partially financed by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur who drastically raised the price of an AIDS-drug. It’s fair to say that 2015 was a tough year, even for a band who has been dealing with death, alcoholism and imprisonment throughout their history.
Relapse seems like a weird choice at first sight. What’s an indie rock band doing on the infamous metal label? Nothing consists of musicians with an impressive past in heavy music. Domenic Palermo used to be the front man of the Philadelphia hardcore outfit Horror Show. Bass player Nick Bassett played in Roads to Judah-era Deafheaven. Nothing is no doubt a heavy band too. Don’t get fooled by the dreamy melodies. When played at an ample volume, Nothing’s fuzzy, distorted guitar sound reaches an intensity achieved by few bands.
This heavy guitar sound was already skillfully elaborated on Nothing’s debut album Guilty of Everything but Nothing have evolved a great deal over the past two years. Tired of Tomorrow sounds a lot more varied than its predecessor. On ‘Ninety Ninety Heaven’ and title track ‘Tired of Tomorrow’ Nothing even trade their distorted guitars for respectively violins and a piano. Domenic Palermo sings more intelligible than ever, which is a great thing considering his personal, poetic lyrics.
Critics might say that Nothing has lost some of heaviness. That might be true but the slight loss of power is made up for with far more interesting songwriting. One of the highlights of the record is the ultra-catchy refrain to ‘ACD (Abcessive Compulsive Disorder)’ which has been stuck in my head for days. Each track on Tired of Tomorrow is distinct, unique and hard to categorize but they’re all clearly Nothing songs. Therefore it may come as no surprise that the album was produced by Will Yip who also helped Turnover, Title Fight and Tigers Jaw reinvent themselves.
Tired of Tomorrow is an instant classic by a band which seems to have found their true sound. If you like heartfelt songs that are beautiful and heavy at the same time, you’ll never get tired of it.
Track list – Tired of Tomorrow:
1. Fever Queen
2. The Dead Are Dumb
3. Vertigo Flowers
4. ACD (Abcessive Compulsive Disorder)
5. Nineteen Ninety Heaven
6. Curse Of The Sun
7. Eaten By Worms
8. Everyone Is Happy
9. Our Plague
10. Tired Of Tomorrow
Written by Wannes Dewanckel
Legends Arising 