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Clutch is a musical group from Germantown, Maryland in the United States. They have been playing together since the early 1990s, producing records at a rate of approximately one per year. They released their first album, Pitchfork, in October of 1991.
Though each of Clutch's albums is marked by its own distinct and cohesive sound, the band's musical style may be said to have migrated from hardcore punk to hard rock over the course of its career, with strong blues influences becoming more prominent in later years. As vocalist/guitarist Neil Fallon notes, "We've been really conscious of the blues over the last couple of years, and you have to admit that the blues really is the source of all rock and roll. I think it's important to go to the source to find that inspiration." Clutch has also been categorized as stoner rock; however, its blues influences and unusual lyrical style make the group difficult to classify.
Clutch's lyrics, at first angry and serious in tone, had by the time of 1993's Transnational Speedway League become characterized by intelligence, wordplay, and often humour (although comedy is not usually the focus). Their songs make frequent reference to history, mythology, popular culture, and religion—for example, "I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth", from their self-titled album, tells the story of a fisherman who discovers the corpse of Lincoln's assassin in the Susquehanna River, and Jam Room's "Release the Kraken" inserts a hero called "Useless the Younger" into the Greek myth. At other times the lyrics contain some very surreal imagery, as in this quote from Robot Hive/Exodus's "Burning Beard": "Every time I look out my window same three dogs looking back at me. Every time I open my windows cranes fly in to terrorize me."
Despite having signed with major record labels in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Clutch has not pushed for mainstream popularity, and their songs rarely receive airtime on commercial radio or music television. Instead they have accumulated a devoted cult following. This following has been cultivated by an ambitious touring schedule; the band has often performed more than 100 shows per year.
Clutch fans often refer to themselves as "gearheads", in reference to the fact that a clutch is an engine component.
Members
- Neil Fallon: vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Tim Sult: guitar
- Dan Maines: bass guitar
- Jean-Paul Gaster: drums
- Mick Schauer: organ
Next album
Clutch have announced that they will soon (possibly have done already) start working on a new album for release in either late 2006 or early 2007. No other information is known about it at this time, except that it will be with DRT Entertainment:
"Well we're going to do a third album with DRT Entertainment if that says anything! (Laughs) We've never had any more than two records in a row with any of the labels we've dealt with in the past, so this is a new record for us! I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that they're a smaller label, and that they understand what the band is about..." —Neil Fallon, Interview
Trivia and other info
In 1997, Escape From the Prison Planet appeared in the movie Escape From L.A.. In 2003, Impetus found its way onto the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Underground. In 2004 the song Immortal was featured in another computer game, Hitman: Contracts. Another video game in which Clutch appeared was the 2006 First-Person Shooter, Prey. Their song 10001110101 could be played on a Jukebox at the start of the game.
Clutch has also made a guest appearance on Viva La Bam.
Similar artists/Tour mates
Although it is hard to categorize their brand of music, Clutch have been regularly associated with stoner rock bands like Corrosion of Conformity, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, and Queens of the Stone Age. Other musicians with whom Clutch has toured include Mastodon, Nebula, System of a Down, Marilyn Manson, Prong, Pantera, Sevendust, Deftones, Orange 9mm, Helmet, Life of Agony, Tree, Quicksand, Biohazard, Fear Factory, Iron Maiden, Korn, Therapy?, GWAR, Fu Manchu, Drown, Sepultura, Monster Magnet, dope, Cold, Kittie, CKY, and many more including the NHL player Darren McCarty (of the Calgary Flames), who has his own band called Grinder.Other projects
In the late 1990s, Clutch and its sibling project The Bakerton Group (an instrumental blues band composed of Clutch members Maines, Sult, and Gaster) formed an independent record label, River Road Records, to release their own music. River Road does not sign any other artists. To date, The Bakerton Group has only released one 3-track EP, Space Guitars, which is available to download for free from Clutch's official website.
=Discography= Albums, EPs and Live Releases
| Year | Title | US Mainstream Rock Peak Position | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "A Shogun Named Marcus" | - | Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes, and Undeniable Truths |
| 1995 | "Escape from the Prison Planet" | - | Clutch |
| 1998 | "The Elephant Riders" | - | The Elephant Riders |
| 2001 | "Careful With That Mic..." | 24 | Pure Rock Fury |
| 2004 | "The Mob Goes Wild" | 39 | Blast Tyrant |
| 2005 | "10001110101" | - | Robot Hive/Exodus |
| 2005 | "Burning Beard" | - | Robot Hive/Exodus |
External links
"Clutch (band)"