Clutch: Earth Rocker – Like getting punched in the face by a mix of blues and metal

            I have had a chance to listen to Earth Rocker, the new release from Maryland-based rock band Clutch, multiple times now.  I can honestly say that each time I play it, the opening title track punches me right in the mouth, and the rest of the album follows suit.  For those of you familiar with Clutch, think of their traditional heaviness, but speed it up a bit.  It’s not 1980’s Metallica fast, but considering the fact that a usual Clutch song is a heavy, plodding affair, both musically and vocally, this is a bit of a departure.  Sure, they have done some up-tempo work before in the form of “You Can’t Stop Progress” and “Power Player” from their 2007 album From Beale Street to Oblivion.  This is not the norm though, and to have nearly a full album devoted to it is a nice change of pace. 

            The best part about this album is the fact that it has no filler.  Even when the tempo slows down considerably toward the middle (the song “Gone Cold”), it is just a brief respite before the intensity picks up again.  This is definitely their most complete album since 2004’s Blast Tyrant (which, coupled with its bonus disc is one of the single best albums I have heard in the last fifteen years).  While the album prior to this, Strange Cousins from the West, was good, it held too many peaks and valleys to be a consistent success.  With Earth Rocker, Clutch has gotten back to the kind of consistency that made Blast Tyrant so good.

            The thing that Clutch does, better than pretty much anyone else out there, is take the heaviness of metal music, but infuse it with a mix of funk and blues that is not often heard.  Think of Red Hot Chili Peppers mixed with Black Label Society and a touch of the bluesiness of Govt Mule.  Not only that, but most of their songs have an innate danceability to them that you don’t usually get from a heavy rock band.  Clutch seems to be the only band that I have heard in recent memory with a sound like this.  Their ability to be an amalgamation of different music styles while still retaining a sound that is all their own (a lot of that having to do with Neil Fallon’s vocals) is something that is hard to come by in the music industry these days.  When everyone still sounds like a twisted knockoff of Nickelback, or some whiny emo band that shouldn’t even carry the rock moniker, it is refreshing to see a band that just does it their way, critics and radio airplay be damned.  Sure, they won’t be a huge commercial success, selling out theater shows instead of stadiums, but it doesn’t seem like that bothers Clutch one bit. 

            In short, Clutch seems to have found a consistency that they were lacking over the last few albums and the fact that they produced an album that is entirely listenable from beginning to end instead of a couple select strong tracks is a relief.  I haven’t been a Clutch fan for a long time (basically binge-listening over the last three years or so) but I will be for a long time to come.  

Buy this album.