New York, NY (Top40 Charts) After a summer of epic gigs including their first-ever South American performance, a headlining show in Sao Paulo, Brazil; stunning crowds at all three Riot Fest shows (Toronto,
Chicago and Denver), CLUTCH has announced a winter U.S. tour which will launch on December 27 in Cincinnati and wrap up on January 10 in Austin. On the upcoming winter trek, CLUTCH will debut a handful of new songs on the road. Torche and Lionize will join the band as support for the entire run (see dates below).
CLUTCH-NEIL FALLON (vocals, rhythm guitar), TIM SULT (lead guitar), DAN MAINES (bass) JEAN-PAUL GASTER (drums and percussion)-will re-team with the acclaimed producer Machine (Lamb Of God, King Crimson, Crobot) for a pre-production session in October. The recording of the new album is scheduled to begin in January 2015 with the same team that worked on CLUTCH's last album Earth Rocker, tagged by Rolling Stone as "seething admixtures of jam-band chops, careening blues-punk riffs" (Dec. 2013). The group's critically acclaimed Earth Rocker album received a 3-disc triple deluxe release this summer via Weathermaker Music. CLUTCH's upcoming album is due for worldwide release mid 2015.
Asked about the musical direction of the new album NEIL FALLON says: "The best thing is just following your gut. I think if we tried to make 'Earth Rocker 2,' it would be D.O.A. But then again, you don't wanna completely abandon it. We started writing for the next album pretty quickly. So it does bear a lot of similarities to Earth Rocker, just because we're coming off the heels of that album. If we'd waited five years, I'm sure it would be a different story."
Catch CLUTCH on the road in the following cities:
US TOUR TICKET LINKS:
THU 9/25 Huntington, NY The Paramount https://tinyurl.com/ocnswcf
FRI 9/26 Norfolk, VA The NorVa https://tinyurl.com/nufpjr7
The Shindig
Music Festival with Jane's Addiction, Rise Against, Gogol Bordello, Halestorm
SAT 9/27 Baltimore, MD The Shindig
Music Festival https://tinyurl.com/mn6hq2s
WINTER TOUR TICKET LINKS:
SAT 12/27 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's https://tinyurl.com/mzen8mf
SUN 12/28 Cleveland, OH House of Blues https://tinyurl.com/mgx8ykn
MON 12/29 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom https://tinyurl.com/na2ut9j
TUE 12/30 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory https://tinyurl.com/pt7t3wt
SAT 1/3 Atlanta, GA Center Stage https://tinyurl.com/nshnyvv
SUN 1/4 Lake Buena Vista, FL House of Blues https://tinyurl.com/phed4gy
TUE 1/6 New Orleans, LA House of Blues https://tinyurl.com/n6a39ng
WED 1/7 Houston, TX House of Blues https://tinyurl.com/khojxrf
THU 1/8 Dallas, TX House of Blues https://tinyurl.com/kl5olal
FRI 1/9 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom https://tinyurl.com/lpvxfcz
SAT 1/10 Austin, TX Emo's https://tinyurl.com/o843atc
CLUTCH critical soundbites:
"…seething admixtures of jam-band chops, careening blues-punk riffs and singer Neil Fallon's nerdy, piss-taking wiseass lyrics-release their hardest rocking set to date." -ROLLING STONE, (#10 Rolling Stone "Top 20 Metal Albums," Dec. 2013)
"Every now and again an album [Earth Rocker] comes along that's an absolute classic-not just a handful of good tunes and a handful of filler, but a classic from start to finish. Not since Pure Rock Fury and Blast Tyrant has
Clutch been so straightforward in their approach. By their own admission, the band found fresh inspiration from touring with
Thin Lizzy and
Motorhead and it showed in the music and in the colossal riffs of guitarist Tim Sult. " -METAL HAMMER, (#1 Metal Hammer "Album of the Year," Jan. 2014)
"…bluesy rock, blustery, but impressively precise riffage, beards, and story songs about robots." -Allison Stewart, REVOLVER (Mar. 2013)
"Vocalist Neil Fallon oozes the passion and silver-tongued charm of a fire-and-brimstone preacher on the title track, Sult unleashes scores of timeless
Clutch riffs (with a highlight being the irresistible fervor of 'Unto the Breach'), and bassist Dan Maines lays down a gritty yet silky tone on tracks like 'Crucial Velocity' and 'Mr. Freedom.' In fact, every song here has its own rhythmic or melodic hallmark, making Earth Rocker a surefire future classic." -Billy Brennan, MODERN DRUMMER (Apr. 12, 2013)
"Clutch has become a beaming example of perseverance and self-sufficiency for an independent act. …Earth Rocker remains focused on staying tight. …tracks like 'Unto The Breach' deliver with force: It's fast, aggressive, melodic and catchy." -Mike Thomas, RELIX (Apr. 2013)
"Earth Rocker is Clutch's hard turn into primal boogie heaviness. The acoustic flourishes, blues songs, and psychedelic forays that shaped Clutch's past few records are shelved and in their place are hard and barbed riff-driven tunes. …Singer Neil Fallon is a holy rock 'n' roller celebrating his music's cathartic release and its history." -Scott McLennan, BOSTON GLOBE (Mar. 2013)
"Clutch has created one of its best, and most straightforward, albums to date. …Working again with producer Machine, the act stripped away the excess and honed in on the riff-heavy, muscular bar-band rock. …The white-knuckled rocking only slows down once. 'Gone Cold,' a subdued existential meditation, signals the end of Side A and works as a palate cleanser from the amplification and distortion. The respite also builds anticipation for the album's best track, 'Book, Saddle and Go.' The band was inspired by recent tour mates, and '70s hard-rock legends, Thin Lizzy, and here it shows most. The call-and-response hook and gritty riffing are proof
Clutch doesn't need to pander to fans or a major label (Weathermaker
Music is owned by the band)." -Wesley Case, BALTIMORE SUN, (Mar 15, 2013)
"Clutch, the hard-touring Maryland band with an endless supply of guitar riffs, is back on the righteous path of heavy rock… Earth Rocker is Clutch's hardest-hitting album in a while, and it's full of Fallon's occasionally inscrutable, fantastical sci-fi themes. There are references to Guttenberg, the Large Hadron Collider and the medieval weapon the halberd-and that's just in one song ('Unto the Breach'). 'The Face' imagines a post-apocalyptic pop culture landscape where rock is dead and electric guitars have been cast into the sea. On 'Cyborg Bette,' our rock-star narrator falls for a robot, his 'latest model'. A welcome return to form." -Christopher Weber, SEATTLE TIMES (Mar 18, 2013)
"'Earth Rocker'…will leave you battered and bruised from the relentless rhythm, vibe and energy. …The record is so UP, so groove ridden that words are not adequate to describe it. There is no filler here. There are no weak moments. There is nothing wasted. There is not a lyric, not a riff, not even a cymbal crash that is out of place.
Clutch are better musicians than most, but they are a much better band than just about everybody (there is a crucial difference). What an album it is." -Richard Maw, THE SLUDGELORD, (Mar. 24, 2013)
About Clutch:
CLUTCH - Neil Fallon (Vocals/Guitar), Tim Sult (Guitar), Dan Maines (Bass) and Jean-Paul Gaster (Drums/Percussion) - have been pushing the boundaries of heavy rock including hard rock, blues rock, southern stoner rock and alternative metal since their early beginnings as a DC hardcore group in 1990. The band quickly became known for their relentless touring schedule, playing shows with bands spanning the spectrum from Therapy? to Iron Maiden, from
Marilyn Manson to Thin Lizzy, Coheed and Cambria to Motörhead. What has come of it is a cult like fan base. With song content ranging from John Wilkes Booth to Monster
Trucks to Greek mythology and government conspiracies, Mr. Fallon and the band have lead their "gear heads" on a surreal journey that is not even close to arriving home. Songs such as "Spacegrass", "Animal Farm", "A Shogun Named Marcus" and "Burning Beard", all recorded prior to 2005, continue to be fan favorites. With ten studio albums under their belt as well as rarities, live albums and 3 DVDS,
Clutch now have their own record label: Weathermaker Music. The first ever
Clutch release was a 7" vinyl EP entitled Pitchfork (1991, Inner Journey) which later became Passive Restraints (1992, Earache /UK, Relativity/USA), a 12" vinyl EP. These independent releases lead to the
Clutch major label debut LP, Transnational
Speedway League (1993, EastWest), and subsequently
Clutch (1995, EastWest), The Elephant Riders (1998, Columbia), and Pure Rock Fury (2001, Atlantic) with the hit radio single "Careful with that Mic…". In the following years
Clutch licensed three albums to Megaforce Records: Live at the Googolplex (2003), Jam Room (2004) and Pitchfork & Lost Needles (2005). The first two of these albums have since been re-issued on the Weathermaker
Music label.Slow Hole to China, a collection of rarities was released independently by
Clutch in 2003. Full Fathom Five, Video Field Recordings (2008) is the first
Clutch live show on a double disc DVD. It is also the first release on Weathermaker
Music and was accompanied by a CD release of the same live recordings Full Fathom Five, Audio Field Recordings. A second double disc DVD, entitled Live at the 9:30, was released in 2010. In 2009,
Clutch released their first full length studio recording on Weathermaker Music.Strange Cousins from the West was the first
Clutch album to have worldwide distribution and it paved the way for all
Clutch re- issues, DVD's, Vinyl and singles to go international. The release was the highest selling record for first week sales for
Clutch to date. Jeremy Hunt directed the video to "50,000 Unstoppable Watts".
During the time period 2004 to 2007
Clutch released three classic albums, all of which were re-issued on Weathermaker
Music between 2010 and 2011. These re-issues come with loads of added material (either in the form of studio tracks, live recordings or videos from the era of the original recordings) and substantially modified new artwork and packaging. From Beale Street to Oblivion (2010), contained the hit "Electric Worry," jokingly referred to by LEMMY from Motörhead as "That's your Ace of Spades…"
Robot Hive/Exodus (2010). "Burning Beard", the video for this record, was directed by award winning producer Jeremy Hunt. The video was voted the #4 "Video of the Year" on MTV's Headbangers Ball.
Blast Tyrant (2011). This album featured the track "The Regulator" which was used prominently in the final scene for the mid-season 2 premiere (2012) of the hit American TV show series "The Walking Dead". Blast Tyrant also included the hit single "The Mob Goes Wild". The accompanying video was directed by Bam Margera and featured Margera's Viva La Bam co-stars; Ryan Dunn,
Brandon DiCamillo, and Don Vito.
Clutch released their tenth and latest studio album Earth Rocker March 16, 2013 on Weathermaker Music. The album entered the Billboard Top 200 chart at #15giving the band their highest chart position to date. Earth Rocker reached #1 on the Rock Chart and #4 on iTunes' overall Top 100 album chart. Earth Rocker was awarded "Album of The Year" by Metal Hammer magazine and garnered a Top 10 spot on Rolling Stone magazine's "Top 20 Metal Albums of the Year."
In the summer of 2014 Weathermaker
Music completed the Earth Rocker release cycle with a very special
Double Vinyl 12" Picture Disc for collectors and Earth Rocker Deluxe, a 2xCD / DVD set. CD1 of the deluxe version features the original studio recordings with two previously unreleased songs, CD2 is a live version of all ER songs recorded at various stops on the Earth Rocker World Tour during the summer of 2013 and the DVD is a recording of Clutch's Denver, CO show from (11/14/13). As a bonus, the DVD contains three promotional videos, two of which were directed by Aisha Tyler.
