For close to 20 years now, the Maryland band known as Clutch has been wowing audiences beneath the mainstream with one consistent album after another, nine studio albums in all, with its latest being 2009's Strange Cousins From The West (Weathermaker Music).
The Early Days: Heavy Metal, Stoner Rock
It's early sound was grungy, sludgy heavy metal with rough vocals, as on debut Pitchfork EP (1991). Later, using Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin-style guitar riffs and a little funk, the group took on a "stoner rock" sound, and its 1995 self-titled second disc is regarded by many fans and critics as a classic in that field and among its best work overall.
The Modern Clutch Sound
The classic rock/stoner rock sound continued into the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially on 2001's Pure Rock Fury, which produced minor hit "Careful With That Mic." But as of 2004's Blast Tyrant album, the group has taken on a bluesy hard rock sound, one that Deep Purple fans might dig (especially on organ-aided tracks such as "10001110101" from the 2005 LP Robot Hive/Exodus). 2007's From Beale Street To Oblivion had more furious bluesy hard rocking guitar licks and consistently catchy songs. It ended up on many hard rock fans' Top 10 lists at year's end.
To get the gist of the modern Clutch sound from a comparative perspective, just picture a happy medium between The Black Keys, Corrosion of Conformity and Pantera-side project Down.
Strange Cousins From The West
In many ways, this new Clutch record is a back-to-basics record. Gone are the keyboard parts provided by former unofficial fifth member Mick Schauer, and back are the guitar-centric tracks that made the band a household name in rock in the first place.
There are slide guitars on lead-off track "Motherless Child" and "Let A Poor Man Be," which is different for them, but the former track has a little Tool in its heavy sound, while the latter track has slick tight bluesy riffs that Jimmy Page would love. Indeed, the groovy, heavy metal palm-muted riffs of lead single "50,000 Unstoppable Watts" recalls Led Zeppelin, a prominent influence on past records but which makes a comeback here.
"Ago Ha Cambiado" sees guitarist Tim Sult bringing out his signature wah-wah pedal to color an already excellent song, and "Sleestak Lightning" features a cowbell and an actual guitar solo by Tim Sult. But the true highlight of the album, "Struck Down" features bruising hard rock blues licks in the verses and lyrics to match, with singer Neil Fallon singing, "she shot me/struck down right through the heart."
The few duds on the disc aren't necessarily bad tunes, but "Freakonomics" is a little too repetitive, "Abraham Lincoln" has riffs that have been mined hundreds of times before and "Witchdoctor" isn't particularly memorable.
In all, Strange Cousins is a notch down from the previous and nearly flawless Beale Street record, but otherwise a more enjoyable and well executed hard rock record than most of what's out there nowadays. This quartet may be relegated to cult status, but they have been one of the most consistent and underrated American hard rock bands of the last 15-20 years. If you're an avid Clutch fan or newbie, its latest record is well worth having and adding to your music library.
Charlie Doherty - Formerly a staff writer/researcher for independent newspaper project Media Nation, which was published daily by The Boston Globe during ...
