Two years on from dropping a record that deserved a place at the annual international post punk conference (if that doesn’t already exist consider this a trademark application, cc: IPO), Australian post-punkers Clamm have been tightening up and doubling down.
Second album Care benefits hugely from the addition of Maisie Everett on bass and backing vocals, which add a thrilling extra depth to Jack Summers’ swaggering Joe Talbot-esque delivery. Whether sitting back in the mix giving a subtle new timbre to straight-up-and-down post punk bangers or openly duelling as on the frantically caffeinated ‘Monday’, there is more tension and energy than ever before, no mean feat after Beseech Me’s barely organised chaos.
Care is a celebration of feedback, which in some ways holds the key to understanding the entire record – if a song starts with a squeal, it’s probably going to take your face off (see the incendiary title track, which fully deserves to have its namefront and centre on the sleeve and the 78-second thrasher ‘Global’), whereas an analogue buzz suggests something a bit more experimental.
For ‘That Way’ it introduces an oppressive lower-tempostomp, and heralds a greasy extended intro on ‘Fearmonger’,which points to Clamm’s slightly more expansive approach on album number two. Closing track ‘Symphony’ is permanently a little off-kilter, an interesting twist on the tried-and-tested template, ‘Make Time’ flirts with a guitar solo and ‘I Can Do It’ has some of the edges rounded off in a bit of a Xanax kind of way.
Care is the sound of a truly exciting band making truly exciting progress. They’re a little way off their CRAWLER moment, but that’s exactly as it should be for a trio who are still in their early stages. Fizzing with raw power, they have the world at their feet.
Words - Joe Ponting
Clamm official