Released in mid-2009, Clutch’s 9th studio album carries on the band’s proudly eclectic tradition. Here, Clutch continues to blend stoner metal with blues-rock influences and angry-sounding vocals with literate, sometimes funny lyrics. The biggest difference this time around is that keyboardist Mick Schauer is gone and, as the title suggests, there’s more of a Western feel.
Clutchophiles will also notice that things have slowed down considerably on Strange Cousins. There isn’t as much drive and aggression as there was on previous releases, but this isn’t really a bad thing. It allows the lyrics and powerful rhythm section to take center stage. Neil Fallon’s vocals are also a lot cleaner when he isn’t stuck in a loudness war with Tim Sult’s guitar.
Slowed-down or not, no one will mistake this for easy listening. The album opens with a catchy twang on “Motherless Child” and both “50,000 Unstoppable Watts” and “Algo Ha Cambiado” feature funky, albeit repetitive rhythms.
Lyrically, like any good Clutch album, Strange Cousins is all over the place. “Abraham Lincoln” bemoans the assassination of our 16th president and denounces his killer as a coward, while “Motherless Child” strikes a familiar blues refrain about the hard life. On the opposite end of the spectrum, tongue-in-cheek anti-government paranoia runs through “50,000 Unstoppable Watts” (“Your friends from Langley are back again”) and “Freakonomics” (“Red threat! Helicopters! Super mind control!”). It’s sometimes hard to separate the band’s stabs at sincerity for its fondness for unabated wackiness, but at least it’s never boring.
Strange Cousins is not the definitive Clutch album nor should it be anyone’s first Clutch album. But for those equipped to handle the band’s idiosyncrasies, it’s a welcome addition.
7.25/10
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