Check out Clutch & Rival Sons at the Brooklyn Paramount on Thursday, September 5th!
Easily one of the most unique and interesting bands in rock and metal is the legendary Clutch. Formed in Maryland in 1991, Clutch’s lineup has been drummer Jean-Paul Gaster, guitarist Tim Sult, bassist Dan Maines, and vocalist Neil Fallon since the beginning with the only exceptions being ex-vocalist Roger Smalls when the band started to form, and the late Mick Schauer playing keyboards for a few years.
Known for their blend of, well, nearly every genre they can get their hands on, Clutch has amassed a dedicated following. Selling out their shows in New Jersey consistently, as well as countless others around the world. The band is also known for being of the groups that are always changing their set, allowing everyone to have a different experience than the night before.
Clutch’s first releases were a pair of EPs released in 1991 and 1992 titled Pitchfork and Passive Restraints. Between these two releases and a consistent touring schedule, the band quickly gained traction. Then, in 1993, their debut album Transnational Speedway League was released to generally positive reviews. The album features several of their more commonly played tracks such as “A Shogun Named Marcus”, “El Jefe Speaks”, “Binge and Purge” and “Rats”.
In 1995, Clutch released their self-titled album, which landed at number 33 on the US Heatseekers chart and was extremely well received by critics. The album contains even more of the band’s hits and commonly played tracks like “Big News I” & “II”, “Texan Book of the Dead”, and their first major hit “Spacegrass”. Their follow up, 1998’s The Elephant Riders would end up topping the Heatseekers chart and landed them on the main Billboard 200 chart for the first time in their career.
Jam Room (1999), Clutch’s 4th album, was their first self-released album and really showed off the groovier side of the band and was followed up by 2001’s Pure Rock Fury. Pure Rock Fury was very well received, with the single “Careful with That Mic…” landing at number 24 on the Mainstream Rock Charts and the album itself peaking at number 5 on the Heatseakers chart.
Clutch followed up Pure Rock Fury with 2004’s Blast Tyrant and is considered their true breakthrough album, despite over a decade of success. The album contained the charting single “The Mob Goes Wild” as well as a live staple in “The Regulator”. Just over a year later, they released Robot Hive/Exodus which was their first album to break the top 100, peaking at 94 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album features yet another live staple in “10001110101”.
Continuing the tradition of releases that contain massive hits for the band, 2007’s From Beale Street to Oblivion has undoubtably Clutch’s biggest hit in “Electric Worry”. The album was also their first to chart internationally, landing on album charts in both the UK and Norway, as well as reaching a new high at 52 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Clutch followed this up with Strange Cousins from the West in 2009 and Earth Rocker in 2013, and Psychic Warfare in 2015climbing higher and higher on the charts with each release. Between these three albums, Clutch produced hits and live staples such as “50,000 Unstoppable Watts”, “Crucial Velocity”, “D.C. Sound Attack!”, “The Wolf Man Kindly Requests…”, “X-Ray Visions”, “Firebirds!”, and “A Quick Death in Texas”.
In 2018, Clutch released Book of Bad Decisions, which was very well received critically and by fans. The album produced songs such as “Gimme the Keys”, “Hot Bottom Feeder” which is essentially a crab cake recipe, and “How to Shake Hands” which have become mainstays in the band’s ever-changing set. The band released their most recent studio album Sunrise on Slaughter Beach in 2022 to their usual success.
All the while releasing normal studio albums, Clutch has also kept the more diehard fans happy along the way. They have 6 “normal” live albums between 2002 and 2010. We say “normal” because, well it’s Clutch, they are far from normal, but also because starting in 2020 with the Covid lockdown, the band did a handful of livestreams for fans and recorded and released them as their Live from the Doom Saloon series. After returning to live music, Clutch kept the unique live releases coming, releasing a series of more “bootleg” style board recordings from shows.
Outside of the live space, Clutch has a handful of compilation albums. However, instead of “Greatest Hits” style compilations like many other bands, Clutch took a different approach, with 2003’s Slow Hole to China: Rare and Unreleased and 2005’s Pitchfork & Lost Needles being dedicated to out of print EP’s, demos, session jams, and unreleased tracks.
In 2015 and 2020, the band released La Curandera and Monsters, Machines, and Mythological Beasts, turning their gaze from the unreleased rarities to tracks that follow a theme. La Curandera was the band’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month special release, comprised of female-focused songs. Monsters, Machines, and Mythological Beasts are all tracks that are focused on exactly that, monsters, machines, and mythological beasts.
Their most recent compilation album, known as The Weathermaker Vault Series, Volume 1 (2020) is comprised of reworkings of tracks the band released that have since evolved to be completely different live, as well as a handful of covers such as Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “Evil”, as well as reworkings of rarities that appeared throughout their earlier catalog.
The band’s unique style that blends blues, metal, jazz, classic rock, stoner rock, shoegaze, funk, country, and so much more has made them an extremely sought after band to tour with no matter the genre. They have toured with hardcore bands like Quicksand, sludge metal bands like Eyehategod, indie bands like Dinosaur Jr., metalcore bands like Killswitch Engage, even thrash legends like Slayer have tapped Clutch for their touring lineup.
Now, Clutch is on the road once more, co-headlining a tour with Rival Sons called The Two-Headed Beast tour. The first leg of the tour features Fu Manchu, while the second leg features Black Stone Cherry. The tour kicks off at the Brooklyn Paramount on Thursday, September 5th and ends at the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas on October 10th.
Get $25 tickets now at ticketmaster.com.
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