★★★★☆
Push in the clutch of a car, and the gears go up or down. Listen to Clutch, and the songs go every which way.
Blues, hard rock, stoner rock, punk and alternative metal find themselves in a jumbled order, propelled, withdrawn or repeated with consummate ease by these Americans, who have released their 11th album with Psychic Warfare.
The lads obviously figured out long ago how to mix their various influences, and it’s become so easy to them that they can be playful about it. In the lead single and first proper track encountered on this album, ‘X-Ray Visions’, lead singer Neil Fallon introduces the members of the band – quite a lark considering there’s only been one change in their 25-year-long career. Except for the cheeky, spoken-word opener and ‘Our Lady Of Electric Light’, the 12 tracks on this album are remarkably different variations of the blues/punk/hard rock batter hinted at above; a high-tempo rhythm section meets slurred lead guitars and Fallon’s hyper and gruff vocals. Unlike other grey-haired rock bands trading on past glories, Clutch stick to their gun-tars, and their love and care for their music seeps through.
A thoroughly inoffensive album in its quality and sense of fun, Psychic Warfare adds another healthy score to Clutch’s discography.
Clutch’sPsychic Warfareis released on Weathermaker and distributed through Rocket.
