Clutch

From Beale Street to Oblivion (DRT)
By Brian Varney

The Allman Brothers love that the members of Clutch have been espousing in print and elsewhere has never been more apparent than on From Beale Street to Oblivion, the band’s third straight winner. Keep in mind, I was firmly on the “don’t get Clutch” bandwagon until something about Blast Tyrant made everything connect. Follow-up Robot Hive/Exodus, while a bit of a step down, exhibited enough of the same strengths to get a thumbs-up. From Beale Street continues the same exploration of various Southern musics, the most obvious being rock (again, the Allman Brothers) and soul (Muscle Shoals, American Studios, Stax/Volt, you get the idea).

From Beale Street is an unmitigated success, but the glory truly belongs to the Clutch rhythm section, which carries the rest of the band upon its mighty grooves as it never previously has on record. Yeah, the rest of the band’s great, Neil Fallon’s words are always a pleasure, and he’s becoming a better singer each time around, but this is the rhythm section’s record, and whatever kind words you have to say about it should be pointed their way.
(www.drt-entertainment.com)