Using context clues like the fact that they’ve been announced for Freak Valley Festival this June in Germany, I’ll say it seems reasonable to expect Clutch will follow this announcement sometime in the not too distant future (perhaps even next Sunday, AD) with a round of European touring probably starting a couple weeks later. In the meantime, like the everlasting gobstoppers of groove that they are, the four-piece will begin this run on April 11 in Norfolk, Virginia, and wrap it a month and a week later in my own beloved Garden State.

They go, of course, supporting last year’s righteous-and-consistent-in-its-righteousness Sunrise of Slaughter Beach (review here), and they’ll bring along Amigo the Devil and Nate Bergman to open. They’re calling it the ‘No Stars Above Tour,’ which comes from the lyrics of the album track “Nosferatu Madre,” and as always with these dudes, the shows promise to be a good time, as they have proven over and again to be one of heavy rock’s finest live acts, all time.

Tickets are on sale this Friday, earlier if you’re on their email list, which I am. You might say it’s how I know about the tour.

To wit:

CLUTCH ANNOUNCES: 2023 “NO STARS ABOVE” NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

Supporting Acts: Amigo the Devil & Nate Bergman

Hi Gearheads! With the code below, you can purchase tickets today before they go on sale to the general public. We are excited to hit the road again. We hope to see y’all out there. Thanks for supporting the music! – Jean-Paul

4/11/23 – Norfolk, VA – Norva
4/13/23 – Lancaster, PS – Freedom Hall
4/14/23 – Portland, ME – State Theatre
4/15/23 – Montreal, QB – MTELUS BREWTAL Festival
4/16/23 – Niagara Falls, NY – The Rapids Theatre
4/18/23 – Memphis, TN – Minglewood Hall
4/19/23 – Fort Smith, AR – Temple Live
4/21/23 – Cincinnatti, OH – Andrew J. Brady ICON Music Center
4/22/23 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
4/24/23 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
4/25/23 – Saskatoon, SK – Coors Event Centre
4/26/23 – Edmonton, AB – Union Hall
4/27/23 – Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall
4/29/23 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
4/30/23 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
5/01/23 – Bend, OR – Midtown Ballroom
5/02/23 – Chico, CA – Senator Theatre
5/04/23 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom
5/05/23 – Stateline, NV – Harrah’s Lake Tahoe South Shore Room
5/06/23 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
5/07/23 – Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum Theater
5/09/23 – Albuquerque, NM – El Rey Theater
5/11/23 – Omaha, NE – The Admiral
5/12/23 – Chesterfield, MO – The Factory at the District
5/13/23 – Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live at 20 Munroe
5/14/23 – Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavillion
5/16/22 – Hartford, CT – The Webster
5/17/23 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
5/18/23 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom

More dates here: https://linktr.ee/clutchofficial

CLUTCH:
Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar
Tim Sult – Guitar
Dan Maines – Bass
Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion

www.facebook.com/clutchband
www.instagram.com/clutchofficial
www.pro-rock.com
www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

Clutch, “We Strive for Excellence”

It’s tempting to try to read more into Sunrise on Slaughter Beach, which is the first Clutch full-length of the ‘post-pandemic’ era. It’s also tempting to not. It’s been a long and eventful four years since the mostly-Maryland-based four-piece issued Book of Bad Decisions (review here), and they’ve reportedly said the idea behind the new record, aside from apparently honoring the horseshoe crabs that wash onto the shore in Delaware each year, was to keep it light in terms of lyrical themes. So, “Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)” starts with a sample from Blade Runner‘s Voight-Kampff test. The semi-title-track “Slaughter Beach” talks about “blue bloods” and naked moonlight shucking.

Even “Mountain of Bone,” which would seem to acknowledge through metaphor the loss of life and livelihood wrought by Covid-19 between 2020-2021, doesn’t push so far as to name names. Am I crazy in thinking an Anthony Fauci namedrop would happen at some point? Would you ever expect there to be an attempted insurrection on American soil and Clutch wouldn’t write a song about it?

Issued through their own Weathermaker Music, Sunrise on Slaughter Beach finds the band — vocalist/sometimes-guitarist Neil Fallon, guitarist Tim Sult, bassist Dan Maines, drummer Jean Paul Gaster; all essential personnel — playing largely to their strengths in groove and storytelling, actively choosing to step back from lyrically commenting on the news of the day, taking few chances in sound and style apart from a bit of theremin from J. Robbins on side B’s “Skeletons on Mars” and backing vocals on the “Mountain of Bone” and “Mercy Brown” from Frenchie Davis and Deborah Bond.

The production job from Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Opeth, Turbowolf) conveys the stage-honed vitality the band brings to the material; the songs feel written to be delivered live, which has been the case over at least the last two decades of Clutch‘s catalog, now 13 full-lengths strong, despite some flourish of guitar layering in the chorus of “Mountain of Bone” and organ sounds on “Mercy Brown” and the likewise brooding-blues closer “Jackhammer Our Names.” Arrangement details like this aren’t necessarily new, though, and as most of Sunrise on Slaughter Beach happens at a comfortable-sounding mid-tempo push, each side opening fast with “Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)” and “We Strive for Excellence” launching A and B, respectively, and closing with more subdued fare, the prevailing spirit of the record feels safe. It’s a safe album.

And that’s fine, since “safety” for Clutch invariably means operating at a level of craft and performance most bands could only dream of. I say that as a fan of the band, but the fact remains, despite a generation of heavy rock dudes growing beards and trying to emulate both the signature we’ll-just-put-funk-and-noise-rock-together-and-see-what-happens riffing, ever-locked-in instrumental chemistry and literary quirk of their lyrics, Clutch stand alone. Sunrise on Slaughter Beach offers hooks in bulk across songs that feel purposefully lean, giving hints of where the jams might go live without ever losing sight of the structures from which they might depart, as in “Nosferatu Madre,” where cleverness wins the day as they turn back to the chorus to finish in just under three and a half minutes, ready to be packed into a nightly setlist typed in all-caps, photo taken and posted on social media. Like you do.

Worth noting that Sunrise on Slaughter Beach is the shortest Clutch album of the 13 they’ve done — Book of Bad Decisions was 15 songs/56 minutes, and it would not be the first time they approached a record in direct response to the one before it — and among the tightest, even as it moves through the reaches of side B in “Skeletons on Mars” and “Three Golden Horns,” the latter distinguished by Fallon‘s intoning that “jazz music corrupts our youth,” there isn’t really enough time for something to come across as filler or not be memorable at least in a “oh yeah this one” kind of way.

No doubt there’s some amount of security in the band writing songs like “Skeletons on Mars” or even “Slaughter Beach,” big choruses and steady verses using familiar elements and time-tested methods. As the first verse of “Mountain of Bone” describes, the risk would be in stopping: “To climb the mountain is no easy task/But it’s so much harder coming down/All the torches of the party have all gone dark/Hungry mouths surround.” There are lives and livelihoods at stake. And one wonders if perhaps some of Clutch‘s stepping back from social critique in lyrics isn’t, consciously or not, driven by a desire not to alienate their audience, largely white and male and thus more demographically likely to be on board with the electric slide into fascism that’s been taking place over the last few (really 40, but golly it’s ramped up) years.

I go back to the naming of names. Why does Condoleeza Rice get mentioned in “Mob Goes Wild” from 2004’s Blast Tyrant (discussed here; reissue review here), or Dick Cheney in “Mr. Shiny Cadillackness” from 2007’s From Beale Street to Oblivion (reissue review here), and nothing here for right-wing stooges like Mike Pence or that guy selling pillows? That guy in the viking hat. The politicization of vaccines. As grim as the times have been, there’s absurdity to coincide, and in putting blinders on to that, Sunrise on Slaughter Beach feels a bit like it’s missing the moment.

There’s a bit of daredevil casting in “We Strive for Excellence” with the lines, “We deliver where Knievel failed/What’s a little bit of tetanus/Pledge allegiance to the denim flag/And strive for excellence,” and there’s no debating that when it comes to going, Clutch have gone, are going, will go, but as with 2009’s Strange Cousins From the West (discussed here; also discussed here), which was the first studio offering through their own label, the real danger is meta. The risk they’re taking is in touring, in engaging their audience again and maybe they’re right to be tentative in doing that. Again, it’s been an eventful four years and for what exactly do Clutch need death threats?

Ultimately, there’s nothing on Sunrise on Slaughter Beach for Clutch fans — once more, I count myself in that number — to complain about. The songwriting is unmistakable and accessible for listeners new or old, and their collective personality — of which Fallon is  a defining outward presence, but to which Gaster, Maines and Sult all significantly contribute — is as convincing an argument as ever to show up to the gig when they hit your town. 31 years after their founding, the prevailing sentiment is to be happy they’re still going at all, and maybe for right now, survival and the relief born thereof can own the day. And if one Clutch album is a setup for the to-be-contrary intentions of the subsequent, they might just be ready to riot next time.

Clutch, “Slaughter Beach” official video

Clutch on Facebook

Clutch on Instagram

Clutch on Twitter

Clutch Website

Clutch on YouTube

At the risk of actual honesty, I’ll tell you that my anticipation for the new Clutch album, the title of which was revealed last week as Sunrise on Slaughter Beach, is not unalloyed. I don’t get the band’s press releases anymore if they’re being sent out, and that one stings. Clutch are a heavy rock institution, and they by no means need press from me, but after being in touch with the band and covering them for the better part of 20 years, to think this is the first record since Pure Rock Fury that I’m on the outs in terms of coverage is kind of a bummer. The music industry, such as it is, offers perennial opportunities to be humbled. If you think this sounds like privileged whining, fine, I don’t care. Nobody’s out here asking for a signed 2LP or whatever, I just feel like a rube chasing down the PR.

Still, as noted, I am very much looking forward to the Sept. 16 arrival of Sunrise on Slaughter Beach — got my preorder in for the CD and whenever they do whatever special edition they hopefully will I’ll get that too — and the singles they have out so far are choice. Expect more place-names to be dropped and ultra-groove to come, and rejoice, there’s new Clutch on the way. And of course they’ll be hand-delivering it to their waiting fanbase on tour, as is their wont.

Art (which is fantastic), info, dates and videos follow. The band are in Europe now for fests and more, as you can see:

PRE-ORDER NOW!
Sunrise On Slaughter Beach
Available World Wide on Sep 16.
Pre-Order Now at
ClutchMerch.com

Produced by @tomdalgety
Art by @jaredmuralt

Sunrise On Slaughter Beach, the band’s thirteenth studio album – a slamming summary of everything that makes the band great and another giant leap forward into career longevity.

Track Listing:

1. Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)
2. Slaughter Beach
3. Mountain Of Bone
4. Nosferatu Madre
5. Mercy Brown
6. We Strive For Excellence
7. Skeletons On Mars
8. Three Golden Horns
9. Jackhammer Our Names

TOUR DATES:
ClutchOnTour.com

UK/Europe:
Jul 23 – Nordfjordeid, NOR – Malakoff Festival – Fly
Jul 26 – Belfast, N.IRL. – Limelight – SOLD OUT – Bus pickup Manchester UK
Jul 27 – Dublin, IRL- Academy – SOLD OUT – Bus
Jul 30 – Gijon, SPA – Tsunami Fest Xixon – Fly
Aug 1 – Porto, PRT – Hard Club – Van
Aug 2 – Lisboa, PRT – Cineteatro Capitólio – Van
Aug 4 – Kostrzyn nad Odra, POL – POL’AND’ROCK, CZAPLINEK – Bus rest of tour
Aug 5 – Wacken, GER – Wacken Open Air Festival
Aug 6 – Leipzig, GER – Re Generation Fest.
Aug 7 – Erlangen, GER – E-Werk
Aug 9 – Jeromer, CZE – Brutal Assault Festival
Aug 11 – Eschwege, GER – Open Flair Festival
Aug 12 – Le Locle, CHE – Rock Altitude Festival
Aug 13 – Puttlingen (Saarbrücken), GER – Rocco del Schlacko
Aug 14 – Rottenburg o.d Tauber, GER – Taubertal Festival
Aug 15 – Budapest, HUN – Sziget Festival
Aug 18 – Saint Nolff, FRA – Motocultor Festival
Aug 19 – Charleville-Mezieres, FRA – Cabaret Vert Festival
Aug 20 – Hasselt, BEL – Pukkelpop Festival
Aug 21 – Luxemburg, LUX – Den Atelier
Aug 23 – Copenhagen, DNK – Store Vega
Aug 24 – Oslo, NOR – Sentrum Scene – SOLD OUT
Aug 25 – Goteborg, SWE – Liseberg Festival (Headliner)
Aug 26 – Stockholm, SWE – Grona Lund Festival (Headliner)
Aug 27 – Malmo, SWE – KB

Clutch w/ Helmet, Quicksand & JD Pinkus
Sep 13 Toronto, ON @ Rebel
Sep 15 Boston, MA @ House of Blues
Sep 16 New York, NY @ Palladium Times Square
Sep 17 Baltimore, MD @ Hammerjacks
Sep 18 Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
Sep 20 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
Sep 21 Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall
Sep 23 Louisville, KY @ Louder than Life*
Sep 24 Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
Sep 25 Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
Sep 27 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
Sep 29 Houston TX @ Warehouse Live
Sep 30 Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum
Oct 01 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
Oct 02 Austin, TX @ Emo’s
Oct 04 Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren
Oct 05 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
Oct 07 Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock*
Oct 08 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Oct 09 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
Oct 10 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
Oct 12 Salt Lake City, UT @ the Depot
Oct 13 Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
Oct 14 Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
Oct 15 West Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom
Oct 16 Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall
*Clutch only

More dates here: https://linktr.ee/clutchofficial

CLUTCH:
Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar
Tim Sult – Guitar
Dan Maines – Bass
Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion

www.facebook.com/clutchband
www.instagram.com/clutchofficial
www.pro-rock.com
www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

Clutch, “We Strive for Excellence”

Clutch, “Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)” official video