- Released: 2020
- Origin: Melbourne, Australia
- Label: Self-released
- Best Track: Cardiac Ablation
Released in January and just coming to my attention now is the debut album from Melbourne punks CLAMM. As I’ve mentioned before, I love the Aussie punk scene at the moment, full of straight-talking, snotty bands putting their own spin on a formula that can’t go far wrong.
Young and fresh-faced, CLAMM have elements of that, but also plenty of rawness and intensity. Lyrically and vocally they’re also a little different to some of their more pub-rocky compatriots. Singer Jack Summers reminds me of IDLES’ Joe Talbot, sounding guttural and thuggish, but also somehow friendly. I’m not surprised to hear that he is, by all accounts, articulate and mild-mannered.
It’s another example of that angry expression of compassion that’s found its way into a lot of rock music in recent years, in defiance at an increasingly troubled world and its bleak political directions. ‘Sucker Punch’ is a classic example of this – it includes aggressive lyrics like “Go and get your ass home and have a fuckin’ shower”, yet the message in this track is one of anti-violence.
I especially like the last two songs on this record. ‘Cardiac Ablation’ offers one of the album’s magic moments with its wash of crunchy guitars, while the closer ‘Bossman’ attacks corporate culture and materialism (“Does he care about anything/Outside his leather seats and expensive lenses?”).
https://clammxo.bandcamp.com/track/cardiac-ablation
Despite forming less than two years ago, CLAMM show with Beseech Me that, far from having any teething problems, they’ve already found their bite.
