Clutch – Earth Rocker

Review by Jason Guest

Weathermaker Music (Release date: 19 March 2013)

It’s difficult to listen to a Clutch album and not be blown away by it. With album number ten, Earth Rocker, that isn’t about to change.  Produced by Machine, the man responsible for 2004’s Blast Tyrant, it’s got a similar feel and sound to it and so Clutch’s already massive filthy-grooved riffs sound even bigger. Four years since their last album and Clutch have been far from idle and their busy live schedule has imbued these tracks with the kind of organic sensibility that only a band prepared to stick it out in venues of all shapes, sizes, and attitudes (they had nickels thrown at them when supporting Nickelback!) can transform into musical gold.

This is a band that knows who they are, what they are capable of, and how to keep it focussed, channelled. Clutch have never needed technical prowess and nor have they ever needed studio trickery to make their music be more than it ever was. All Clutch ever needed was an infectious groove. And here they are, every track steeped in whiskey, beaten in a bar room brawl, and road-tested into the dust. And with the rhythm section in the high gears, Clutch are driving us all the way to that distant destination shimmering on the desert horizon. Effortless, simple, straightforward, this is exceptional. Clutch at their best. And still better than most.

9 out of 10

• Clutch’s Website

Track listing:

1. Earth Rocker
2. Crucial Velocity
3. Mr. Freedom
4. D.C. Sound Attack
5. Unto The Breach
6. Gone Cold
7. The Face
8. Book, Saddle, & Go
9. Cyborg Bette
10. Oh, Isabella
11. The Wolfman Kindly Requests…