Clutch

Clutch is a US rock band from Maryland, formed in 1991 in Germantown. The group is associated with hard rock, rock, blues rock and stoner rock, and is often described as one of the early bands linked with the stoner rock style. Its core lineup includes Tim Sult on lead guitar, Dan Maines on bass, Jean-Paul Gaster on drums and Neil Fallon on vocals, rhythm guitar and keyboards. The band’s original vocalist, Roger Smalls, is part of the early history of the group and later makes way for Fallon, who attends Seneca Valley High School with the other members.

Early years and first releases

Before using the name Clutch, the group performs as Glut Trip and Moral Minority. The name Clutch is reportedly chosen because of an interest in cars and a preference for short, one-syllable band names. The band builds an early following through extensive touring. Its first commercial release is the 12-inch single Passive Restraints on Earache Records, which helps attract label attention. The debut album, Transnational Speedway League, follows in 1993 on EastWest Records. A self-titled album appears in 1995 and brings the band wider exposure, but the group is later dropped by EastWest after its A&R representative leaves the label.

Albums, labels and live releases

Clutch then signs to Columbia Records and releases The Elephant Riders in 1998. The band issues Jam Room independently in 1999, followed by Pure Rock Fury on Atlantic Records in 2001. The title track is first issued as a single, but Careful with That Mic is later pushed instead and becomes a minor radio success; Immortal and Open Up the Border also receive airplay. In 2003 the band releases the live album Live at the Googolplex and the compilation Slow Hole to China.

Blast Tyrant arrives in 2004 on DRT Entertainment, and The Mob Goes Wild gains significant airplay. Its video is directed by Bam Margera and is filmed in Pennsylvania. In 2005 the compilation Pitchfork & Lost Needles collects early recordings and unreleased material. The band signs to its own label, Weathermaker Music, in 2008. Around this period, it releases the live DVD Full Fathom Five, followed by a remastered Slow Hole to China: Rare and Unreleased in 2009 and Strange Cousins from the West the same year. Clutch Live at the 9:30 appears in 2010 and documents a 2009 Washington, D.C. show in which the band performs its 1995 self-titled album in full. Blast Tyrant is reissued in 2011 with the bonus disc Basket of Eggs.

Later work

In 2005, Mick Schauer joins on keyboards and contributes to Robot Hive/Exodus and From Beale Street to Oblivion. The latter is produced by Joe Barresi, who has also worked with Kyuss, Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age and Tool. Clutch releases the single Pigtown Blues and an acoustic version of Motherless Child in 2012. Earth Rocker follows in 2013 and reaches number 15 on the Billboard 200, the band’s highest chart position at that point; it also receives Album of the Year from Metal Hammer. Psychic Warfare comes out in 2015 after recording in Texas, with some of Neil Fallon’s lyrics influenced by Philip K. Dick and the material described by Jean-Paul Gaster as more stylistically varied than earlier releases. Book of Bad Decisions is recorded in Nashville with producer Vance Powell and released in 2018. Mick Schauer dies in 2019.

The band releases Sunrise on Slaughter Beach in 2022. In 2021 it begins the Clutch Collector’s Series, a set of reissues in which each member chooses an album for reinterpretation and reissue; the series includes new versions of Blast Tyrant, curated by Jean-Paul Gaster, and Robot Hive/Exodus, curated by Dan Maines. The band continues to work on new material after that and has begun pre-production on its next album with producer Gene Freeman.