Clutch – Live at the 9:30 Club (DVD)

2010 Weathermaker Music

(note:  I wrote this right after the release of this DVD last year, but noticed that I saved it as a draft and never posted it.  Sorry…)

Being the total Clutch homer that I am, I pre-ordered my copy of this…just so I could get my own 2-foot long Clutch logo sticker which I now proudly display in my studio:) Clutch is the band that turns me into a 15-year-old again…when nothing mattered but music.

If you buy into the Clutch thang, you’ll undoubtedly be happy with this. First, you have the live show which clocks in at around 90 minutes. Clutch is a machine live…and you never know what the set list will be from show to show. Unlike so many corporate bands (Def Leppard comes to mind in a big way), Clutch doesn’t forsake their early material when it comes to their live shows.

In fact they celebrate it…and it’s testimony to their songwriting that early songs like “A Shogun Named Marcus,” “The House that Peterbilt,” and “Escape from the Prison Planet” sound even better today in a live setting with Clutch’s modern deep-fried groove and resident vocabularian Neil Fallon’s more melodic vocal stylings.

The latter song is on this DVD in full-force as our fave Maryland boys play their self-titled 1995 disc in its entirety in this live set. 1995’s Clutch album is a bit of an underground classic, but I never truly appreciated the songs until I heard them live. Truth is, I always felt the production on that album was way too thin…but man do these songs just burn live and it’s such a kick to hear a rabid crowd singing along to “Escape…,” “Spacegrass,” and my two faves “Rock and Roll Outlaw” and “I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth.”

I could go on and on…and most of my friends are probably tired of me talking about Clutch. Lol   Just a wonderful band and a wonderful live document here.

The second CD is a 100+ minute documentary following Clutch on the road with both band and fan interviews. Loads of fun with a band that’s unbelievably humble considering how good they are. Listening to Jean-Paul “The Master” Gaster talk about drums is mesmerizing. A lot of thought goes into the sounds both he and the entire band make.

This is a band that cares.

We all should.

Rating:   5 out of 5

Clutch – King of Arizona (LIVE)

I just discovered this gem on YouTube.    From the sound of this and “The Dragonfly,” they should release this show as a live disc.

Just another example of why Clutch is my favorite band.   Just plain magic.

Enjoy Abysmally…

Clutch – The Dragonfly (live video)

There’s just something about this song that does it for me.  Studio version on The Elephant Riders CD is good, but live this song just smokes.  Tim Sult’s guitar intro is just too cool, then the band kicks in.  Enjoy…and check out the lyrics while you do.   Just brilliant!

Lyrics to The Dragonfly:

Could’ve been a swan on a glassy lake.
Could’ve been a gull in a clipper’s wake.
Could’ve been a ladybug on a windchime,
but she was born a dragonfly.

In the sun she warmed her wings
and listened to the cicadas sing.

“The trees are all bending
in one direction
because of something…”

Cross-pollination by the legs of bees in the spring
is a beautiful thing.
Oh when the sun goes down,
the fireflies come out.

In a pond crept a slimy thing
that hummed a theme from the Rites of Spring.

Pity the mate of Queen Mantis,
so content, but so headless.
Katydid nothing but shiver and cry,
as did the dragonfly.

In the shade the gypsies spin
Among the cloves, they drop their skin.

“…beyond the hedgegrove,
over by the willows,
deep in the shadows…”

Regeneration occurs at a furious speed
beneath the white oak tree.
Oh when the sun comes up
the moon buds fold up.

In the sun she warmed her wings
and listened to the Rites of Spring

Could’ve been a swan on a glassy lake.
Could’ve been a gull in a clipper’s wake.
Could’ve been a ladybug on a windchime,
but she was born a dragonfly.

Clutch – Strange Cousins From The West

2009 Weathermaker

I’ve been waiting for what seems like forever for this disc to be released, and it seems like it’s taken me forever to get around to reviewing it.

First things first:  I’ve been a self-admitted Clutch homer since 2001’s “Pure Rock Fury” and personally they’re my favorite band.  That being said, this disc is much more the slow-grower than previous releases for my Abysmal ears.   Whereas I felt their last album “From Beale Street To Oblivion” was loaded with hooks while the guitar sound was more fuzzy than biting, the guitar cuts through the mix on “Strange Cousins…” in a way that’s reminiscent of the “Robot Hive” disc…probably due to the same producer overseeing things here.  Excellent choice.

At first I was rather underwhelmed, as none of the songs (save for instant classic “Struck Down”) reached out and grabbed me the way numerous songs on “Blast Tyrant,” “Pure Rock Fury” and “Robot Hive – Exodus” did on the first listen.   Then as I listened more, I was drawn in by the textures and subtleties of the music at hand and reached the conclusion that what we have here is yet another solid disc by truly great band.

The rhythm section of Jean-Paul Gaster (drums) and Dan Maines (bass) takes over right off the bat with the jazzy and labyrinthal timekeeping of opener “Motherless Child,” and lays down a furious funky groove immediately afterward on “Struck Down” before you can even catch your breath.

The riffs are cool and very much steeped in 70’s rock, but what is really evident upon repeated listens is guitarist Tim Sult’s playful manipulation of sound textures while keeping the riffs quite meaty overall.   Keeping with their working-man’s cool image, they throw in an excellent cover tune by Argentinian group Poppo’s Blues Band “Algo Ha Cambiado,” sung entirely in Spanish by the one-and-only Neil Fallon who sounds strangely comfortable singing in Poppo’s native tongue.   Rounding out the proceedings is knee-slapper “Sleestak Lightning,” with the trademark Clutch groove laying the foundation for Fallon’s always intelligent and amusing witicisms.  To wit:

West Virginia has its Moth Man,
Pan handlers’ got their Skunk Ape.
But I have a tazer and night vision goggles,
Costco rolls of black duct tape.
It’s got red eyes, it’s got razor claws,
It’s got green skin, no it ain’t a meth-head.
And after studying its behavior, objectively and critically,
I believe I have a reliable method..

Clutch once again is a world unto themselves and well worth the visit.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

CLICK HERE to buy Strange Cousins from the West

Clutch – The Elephant Riders

   1998 Columbia/Sony

If you’ve spent much time in the Abyss, you’ve probably figured out that Clutch is pretty much my favorite band ever…possessing all the elements I love about really great rock music.   The grooves, the guitars (LOTS of guitar), hooks and undeniable intelligence…it’s all here.

While Clutch really hit their stride with Pure Rock Fury, The Elephant Riders is the album where they really started to hone in on the elements that make them so unique.   Many Clutch fans regard this as their best disc, while I personally reserve that designation for Blast Tyrant or Robot Hive/Exodus, mostly because the production on this disc isn’t quite to my sonic liking.

Nonetheless, the songs are most definitely there, and I’ve gained a new appreciation for this and Clutch’s earlier releases after hearing them in the live context (see Full Fathom Five).   The hilarious visual of Civil War soldiers riding into battle astride elephants pretty much says it all.   This is music that exists for the pure joy of sound, and if you care to dig beneath the surface you will find layer after layer of intelligence and humor that are well worth your time.

The strength of the riffs is undeniable, songs like “The Soapmakers” and “The Yeti” just enjoyable beyond belief even before you dig into the lyrics.   Everything good about classic rock is on display here, including eclectic variety on songs like “Green Buckets” and “Wishbone,” the latter containing one of many funny Neil Fallon musings.  To wit:  For Thanksgiving we had taters, succotash and rutabegas.

The only other person I know of to use the word “rutabega” in a song was Frank Zappa on “Duchess of  Prunes” (from Absolutely Free), and that’s pretty good company to say the least.

I’ve gotta give props to “Ship of Gold” as the first Clutch song I can remember really sinking my teeth into.   Living in Dallas when this was released, I remember listening to this track over an over and just being mezmerized by the groove.   I just simply had never heard anything quite like it.

The crown jewel of this thoroughly entertaining carnival of sound, though, is my favorite Clutch song of all time “The Dragonfly,” which paints a captivating picture of the rites of spring from the point of view of a newly hatched dragonfly:  Oh in the sun she warms her wings, and listens to cicadas sing.   Or how ’bout …trees are all bendin’ in one direction, because of somethin’ – cross-pollination on the legs of bees in spring, it’s a beautiful thing.  There’s just no other band that can pull this off with such total conviction.   This song, however, is best experienced in the live context as a superb opening call-to-arms on the fierce Full Fathom Five live CD/DVD.

There’s really not a bad Clutch album in the whole bunch, and if you want to dig deeper into their back catalogue (pre-Pure Rock Fury) this is a great place to start, The Elephant Riders offering song after song of memorable hooks and sheer fun.

Rating:   4 out of 5