Album review: Clutch - Earth Rocker

For over 20 years now, Maryland's Clutch have been one of America's most solid and consistent rock and roll proponents. Across their ten albums they have managed to crank out some of the most energetic and thought-provoking rock music of their age without ever pandering to the Top 40 crowd. The charm of Clutch lies in what is essentially their simplicity. They have never needed violins, armies of vocalists, Tibetan nose flutes, poly-rhythmic cyborgs, or Viennese castrati to have that point of difference. All they have ever had to do is be themselves because they are elemental in nature - an unstoppable presence in the music industry.

On Earth Rocker the band continue to gleefully cherry pick from rock's vast history and re-purposed every element to their own unique design. Lead single, and album opener, 'Earth Rocker' is a take-no-prisoners style barn-burner. Singer Neil Fallon appears to be channeling the groovy spirit of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, letting out a bone-rattling moan worthy of the original voodoo bluesman himself in the song's high-octane chorus. Between bellowing like a barbarian or groaning like a ghost, Fallon remains the one of the most literate front men in music today. At every turn you feel as though you have just missed out on catching some arcane reference or biting piece of social commentary. He may deliver the lines like a drunkard at a truck stop but he crafts them like a poet. None of this ornate prose gets in the way of shit kicking fun of course as Clutch can straddle the line between high and low art with ease. 'Unto The Breach' cribs an AC/DC riff and pushes it further into the red than you might have thought possible, further proving their party animal pedigree.

The one song that stands out from the pack is the downright creepy 'Gone Cold'. It looms out the mist and bong smoke right in the middle of the album and lays out a southern-fried swamp jam before receding back into Louisiana folklore. The main goal of the album might have been to retain a single-minded focus but 'Gone Cold' gives the listener a breather, like a surreal intermission straight out of the movie Deliverance. If this song does not grip at your heart with icy talons then you should probably see a doctor because I'm not sure you're alive. Earth Rocker is a record straight from their modern mold: lean, precise, and aggressive. It is this formula that was engineered on Robot Hive / Exodus, completely disregarded on From Beale St. to Oblivion, and resurrected in glorious fashion for Strange Cousins from the West. Their legion of fans already know what to expect and will lap this up hungrily. Everybody else, well, they are long overdue to catch up.

Rating: B+

Recommended tracks: Earth Rocker, Gone Cold