Review Summary: The real D.C. Sound Attack is back.
There's a gulf of difference between the Confident Swagger of Rock N' Roll and the Tuffguy Tapout Realman cliques, and Clutch is a band that belongs firmy in the previous camp; they have true swagger and confidence for miles. Even in their weakest moments, Clutch has been a no-bullsh
it stalwart and keeper of the spirit of rock.
Earth Rocker, the bands tenth album, shows a renewed vigor and zest for rock and all it encompasses.
Blues and stoner rock awash in a sea of distortion, a knuckled-up attitude, beer, smoke, and middle fingers,
Earth Rocker proceeds through a series of eleven nearly perfect, streamlined songs tailor-made for drinking, rocking out, and just expressing the true power of the artform without a million gimmicks. If there was a way to really describe the sound of this album in a single word, "gruff" would have to be that word. Neil Fallon's leather-lunged bellows are damn near impossible to miss once associated, being soulful and clearly out of f
ucks to give. The meat-and-potatoes grooves that Clutch skillfully exercise are incredibly clever and minimalist, giving maximum payoff for the fewest notes and tricks and production wizardry.
Killer tracks like 'The Face' showcase the bands inherent love for the music they produce, with talks of thousands of guitars and the destruction of those who would seek to inhibit this divine expression. 'Crucial Velocity' name drops an Oldsmobile 88, nicknamed Rocket 88 in the 1950's and was one of the first rock n' roll songs. 'D.C. Sound Attack' is a typical anti-establishment rock/blues ditty with a very atypical go-go beat breakdown (a local D.C. musical style) attached in there that gives this song a groove so strong it's almost impossible not to smile. 'Gone Cold' is all wooden floors, smoky air, and middle-of-nowhere melancholy that Clutch has damn near trademarked by now.
There are a few weak points, like 'Cyborg Bette' and... well... hell I think that's it. And even as a weak point, it's really not much a of a weak point.
If there's one inherent flaw in the Clutch formula, it may be the slight amount of "sameyness" that can manifest itself when listening to their music. This may come as a result of their purposeful simplicity, but all things told I find it impossible that a band has managed to make not one, not two, but eight albums in this formula and can still manage to sound fresh, fun, and as straight up real as these Mid Atlantic legends. But here we are, album number ten, eight albums out of their more hardcore initial phase (starting with 1998's
Elephant Riders) and Clutch still gets me headbanging every damn time. That shows true musicianship from the absolute masters, the torchbearers of rock n' roll.
Gruff blues songwriting bones wrapped up in a nasty, massive rock sound, sprinkled with soulful Americana and executed damn near to perfection,
Earth Rocker is an amazing statement by Clutch on the state of their art.
