Tonight: Revenge of the nerds, revenge of Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio—my old hometown—can’t ever seem to catch a break. Lately the area has been vexed by sustained economic hard times…and the drawn-out sell-out of basketball star LeBron James. It’s a good thing that Clevelanders are smart—and tough. Less hardy urbanites would have thrown in the towel long ago.

The group Cloud Nothings epitomize Cleveland grit and resourcefulness.

Songwriter and Cloud Nothings main man Dylan Baldi’s concise, agitated pop is a case study of how you can make something beautiful out of life’s shit. You just need some inspiration.

Look at the nerd in the band’s newest video, “Hey Cool Kid.”

This geek isn’t a victim. No way. He peels a homeless man off the street and bionicizes him—making him into a radio-controlled robot who is—surprise!—a monster on the basketball court (take that, LeBron).

This evening at 8pm, Cloud Nothings makes their Los Angeles debut at new DIY venue Dem Passwords. They’ve driven thousands of miles to be here. And like a lot of bands before them who have done the same thing, they’ve turned their underdog position into a exceptional advantage.