The first new Clutch studio release in over two years. Strange Cousin’s From The West is the band’s 9th studio effort, and second with producer J. Robbins. It’s the first original studio release on the band’s self-owned label, Weathermaker Music
[Read More...]
Buy Strange Cousins from the West at Amazon
Need Christmas Card Ideas? Check these out.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s remarkable that a band can be this good while still getting better on their ninth studio album.
Strange Cousins from the West continues on the organic progression Clutch has been making on each album since their inception. It takes what was good about From Beale Street to Oblivion and makes it better, which Beale Street did with Robot Hive/Exodus, and so on.
Awesome album and congratulations to the band on self-releasing it. I’m glad to know my money’s going straight to the people who deserve it for once.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Back in the day…
Back in the day…
I loved Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes And Undeniable Truths. I remember seeing “A Shogun Named Marcus” on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball.
The Clutch of today is not the same as the band who released “Passive Restraints” or “Transnational Speedway Anthems” back in the day. Their fans have grown up, and so have they. After making one of the best straight-up rock albums in a long time with “Blast Tyrant”, Clutch began to experiment more with blues and an almost “classic rock” style of music on “Robot Hive/Exodus” and then ventured even farther into that territory with their last LP, “From Beale Street To Oblivion”.
This new album, “Strange Cousins From The West” definitely seems like the next logical step in that direction. The new album is “rock”, but probably not in the way that top-40 radio has classified “rock” these days, but rock in the way that I think it used to mean. The band is obviously making the kind of music they enjoy playing and hoping that their fans will follow them along for the ride. Judging from the reaction some of the new stuff got when I saw them in concert a few months ago, I’d say that the fans approve.
For me, the sweet spot of this album begins at song four, “Abraham Lincoln” and continues through “Minotaur” and “The Amazing Kreskin” There aren’t any throw-aways on this album, and even stuff that I found myself kind of resistant to at first, like “Witchdoctor” wound up winning me over in the end. The main riff for “Abraham Lincoln” has been stuck in my head for days too…
Obviously, I’m a Clutch fan, but if you enjoy this, be sure to check out their instrumental stuff, released as The Bakerton Group, because it’s some good stuff too. If the only song you know from Clutch is “A Shogun Named Marcus”, then you have a lot of catching up to do, because the band has only gotten better and evolved their sound into something much more unique over the last 19 or so years. If you get a chance to check them out live (they tour heavily) I would also say DO SO.
I’ve been a Clutch fan since the first album way back in the early 90’s. When a band has been around this long and has proven the test of time it is only natural you have GREAT efforts and then solid…yet subpar efforts. SCFTW is a step down from the last 3 albums…HOWEVER, that in no way says this is a bad album, it is not, in fact it is a very solid effort. Personally I have always preferred the faster tempo of albums such as Blast Tyrant and Robot Hive/Exodus. SCFTW is a slower album than anything Clutch has done in quite a few years. Some of it takes me back to Elephant Riders but then you get hints of Beale St as well. The one thing that is really missing is the far out lyrics….Fallon is one of very few song writers that can just about produce an acid flashback in my mind with his words. This aspect is missing on this album, there are a few instances of oddball lyrics..but very few and far between, for sure nowhere near the level of past efforts.
All in all, this is a solid around effort and any Clutch fan should be glad to have it in their collection. The packaging is AWESOME! It will stay in my player for awhile no doubt….but not as long as the last few albums have, for me this is another Pure Rock Fury….a solid effort but not my favorite of their releases. It will be pulled out occasionally, but not nearly as much as other albums.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fate is the idiot’s excuse
BAD-ASS!!! Is it me or does it sound like CLUTCH are dippin’ back into grandma’s old cataract medicine? It’s the sickest experimentation I’ve heard from them in a while.
5.0 out of 5 stars
allways a suprise…
Every album from Clutch takes you to a new place. If you liked these guys already this is money well spent- it takes some of the ideas from the last album and makes them better…
5.0 out of 5 stars
ANTHRAX, HAM RADIO, AND LIQUOR!!!
clutch does it again with the solid “strange cousins from the west”. while i agree that this is not a step in the same direction as “robot hive/exodus” or “blast tyrant”, that…
5.0 out of 5 stars
another grower
It’s funny how every album these guys do eventually grows on me. The only albums I loved on first listen were the first 2.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great one from Clutch
After listening to this album, I can only say that Clutch is one of those rare bands that never lets you down!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strange Cousins from the West
The new Clutch CD is really good. One of their better ones for sure. It took a few listens to pick out all the changes from their last few albums like Robot Hive, Blast Tyrant,…
5.0 out of 5 stars
A WELL CARVED OUT PIECE OF ROCK
To me,The band and the music sound more mature and grown up on this release then others.You can understand what each band member brings to each song.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clutch. Still the best at what they do.
Just got the album yesterday without hearing a single sound clip. After almost 20 years of grade A rock, Clutch is a band I simply trust to rock my socks off without having to…
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rock the way its meant to be
What Blast Tyrant did for the earlier work of Clutch, Strange Cousins does for their later work. This album is a little heavier than Beale street but the blues influence are…