Strange Cousins from the West
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
Strange Cousins from the West is the ninth full-length studio album by the band Clutch and was released on July 14, 2009.[1]
Album Information
It was produced by J. Robbins, who previously worked with the band on Robot Hive/Exodus.[2] The album debuted at No. 38 on the Billboard 200 the week following its release with sales of 13,000 copies making it the band's highest debuting album. It saw the departure of Hammond organ player Mick Schauer who had played and toured with the band for the last two albums and their following tours. On May 13, 2009 the first single, "50,000 Unstoppable Watts" was released online. A video for this song was made available online on July 24, 2009. "Abraham Lincoln" can be listened to on the band's Ultimate Guitar profile.
In discussing the album's first single, singer Neil Fallon said "The song is more or less about where we rehearsed in Frederick, MD, next to an army base, Fort Detrick, where they do a lot of the chemical weapons manufacturing and testing. So, when I’m saying Anthrax, I’m talking about Anthrax, the chemical weapon, not the band. And there is a lot of ham radio operators, well, old ham towers there. And one morning I was going, well one morning, oh Jesus, one afternoon I was going to the liquor store and the lyrics just popped into my head after practice."
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [3] |
| NME | (7/10)[4] |
| PopMatters | (7/10)[5] |
| Thatdoesntsoundright | Positive[6] |
Initial critical response to Strange Cousins from the West was generally positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 72, based on five reviews.[7]
Track listing
All songs written by Clutch, except "Algo Ha Cambiado" written by Norberto Aníbal Napolitano and originally recorded by his Argentine band Pappo's Blues.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Motherless Child" | 4:15 |
| 2. | "Struck Down" | 4:23 |
| 3. | "50,000 Unstoppable Watts" | 3:48 |
| 4. | "Abraham Lincoln" | 5:58 |
| 5. | "Minotaur" | 4:52 |
| 6. | "The Amazing Kreskin" | 4:37 |
| 7. | "Witchdoctor" | 4:11 |
| 8. | "Let a Poor Man Be" | 5:31 |
| 9. | "Freakonomics" | 3:21 |
| 10. | "Algo Ha Cambiado" | 4:09 |
| 11. | "Sleestak Lightning" | 3:47 |
| 12. | "Metroliner Special" (bonus track) | 3:43 |
The track "Metroliner Special" is available as a bonus track on some releases of the CD, via special online merchandise orders and is also available for free at their official website to download.
Personnel
- Neil Fallon – vocals, guitar
- Tim Sult – guitar
- Dan Maines – bass
- Jean-Paul Gaster – drums, percussion
Production
- Produced by Clutch and J Robbins
- Engineered and Mixed by J Robbins at the Magpie Gage, Baltimore, MD
- Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service
- Design and Artwork by Nick Lakiotes
- Photographs by Rick Malkin
- Assembly - Rich Warwick for Built By Icon
- Abraham Shiva Illustrations - Greg Franklin
- Management - Jack Flanagan for Issachar Entertainment / NYC
References
- ^ Metal Hammer Website - Clutch Announce New Album Details
- ^ "Clutch | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Blogs.myspace.com. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ^ Lymangrover, Jason. "Strange Cousins from the West : Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ McFee, Edwin (July 2, 2009). "Clutch- Album review: Clutch - 'Strange Cousins from the West' :Album Reviews:NME". NME. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ Begrand, Adrien (July 31, 2009). "Clutch:Strange Cousins from the West : Reviews:PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ "Strange Cousins from the West – CLUTCH – 2009 « thatdoesntsoundright". Thatdoesntsoundright.wordpress.com. 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ^ "Strange Cousins from the West reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved August 26, 2009.