Clutch

[shermarama]

I'm trying to work out what to do about going to see Clutch. They've cancelled a chunk of their European tour, including both the gigs in the Netherlands. There's one in Bremen I was hoping to go to instead, but it's sold out. That leaves:

• a festival in Münster, where they're on for an hour at 1am


• four gigs in the UK, but all on weekdays therefore requiring 2 days off, plus, UK: sorry, but I've been there a lot


• a Sunday night in Luxembourg, but I just went there a few weeks ago, so no fun going again right now


• Saturday night in Thessaloniki, Sunday night in Athens. That means plane not train, but I'm sort of thinking, I've never been to Greece...


• And yet, a Thursday night in Gothenburg, which means 2 days off and a plane too, and it's a festival, but it's a warm-up day so they're sort of headlining it, and on after Motorhead...

The rational thing to do is, well, not to bother going seeing them at all, but failing that, probably London. Or maybe Norwich because I've never been there. But.

Comments

[aphroditemf.livejournal.com]

What's the best album to start with, for a Clutch noob?

[shermarama]

Ahahahahaha, that very much depends on who's doing the asking. Their most rock-tastic one and biggest hit, arguably, is Pure Rock Fury from 2001, and it's what I'd recommend to metallers. The other place to start is their self-titled, second album from 1995, which is spacious and strolling stoner rock with lyrics referencing everything from Timothy Leary to Animal Farm, which, you know, maybe sounds like something you'd like? A song about a fisherman who's found the body of John Wilkes Booth and is exhibiting it at a side-show? An opening two-parter about shenanigans on a gambling boat? A song about driving a 1973 Dodge Swinger to the galaxy M83?

And then there are a bunch of other good ones, from Transnational Speedway League, their first and still rather metal, to the enjoyably silly Jam Room, to the remarkably kicking current one, Earth Rocker, to the genius but probably less accessible Elephant Riders. There's one thing which can be make or break, though, which is the singer's voice - it's a shouty, gravelly, exaggerated style, is quite weirdly monotone in the earlier stuff, veers around spoken word via apocalyptic preacher, and then turns out to work very well for storming blues covers in more recent years. If you don't like Neil Fallon's voice, you're not going to like Clutch. But it's brilliant if you do.

[aphroditemf.livejournal.com]

"A song about a fisherman who's found the body of John Wilkes Booth and is exhibiting it at a side-show? An opening two-parter about shenanigans on a gambling boat? A song about driving a 1973 Dodge Swinger to the galaxy M83?"

Oh that sounds right my my alley! And actually, I recall playing Spacegrass to death and always intending to investigate further, so the self-titled album would be the logical place to start.

Ta very much!

[shermarama]

Ah, well, then, if you liked Spacegrass... It's not an isolated high point of the album or a strange departure from their usual style or something. That sort of thing is what they do all the time.

[shermarama]

(And that's why they're awesome.)