Melbourne punk power trio CLAMM return with the first single Bit Much from their second album Care, which will be released on vinyl and digital by Chapter Music on August 19.
CLAMM’s music was already concerned with the woes of the world, but the band say the last two years have added extra urgency to their blown out, dystopian punk power.
“It can be a strange thing to focus on your own mental wellbeing while also hearing about the constant horrific events of the world,” vocalist Jack Summers said of the track.
“Bit Much focuses on this dynamic and the overwhelming feeling it can bring,”
CLAMM explore the confusion of what it is to be a young person trying to live an honourable life in this fucked up world. Their songs are about trying to navigate systems of power and oppression while retaining a healthy sense of self and mental health. Community, creativity, and catharsis are what they hope to achieve through their music.
Care is bigger, louder and darker than previous album Beseech Me (2020). CLAMM dodged lockdowns to record at Rolling Stock and Sound Park Studios with Nao Anzai (NO ZU, Cash Savage, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever). Nao also plays fearsome synth on the album and has joined the band on-stage at recent shows. Saxophonist Anna Gordon (Mangelwurzel) contributes wild free jazz skronk to a number of tracks.
Bit Much is the first CLAMM recording to feature the bass and backing vocals of newest member Maisie Everett (also in Belair Lip Bombs), who joined the band shortly after Beseech Me was released. Jack and drummer Miles Harding have been best friends since primary school, but with Maisie the CLAMM trio finds its ultimate form.
Beseech Me was a Triple R and FBi Radio feature album in 2020 and sold out its original cassette pressing almost immediately. It was reissued on vinyl in 2021 by UK label Meat Machine (renowned as the home for Canadian art-punk provocateurs Crack Cloud), which saw CLAMM featured on the cover of French Rolling Stone and played on BBC 6 Music.
Bit Much is out now.
Image: Gen Kay
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