First Listen: Clutch, Earth Rocker

This one is for Jon Pirrong. He's been after me to try Clutch for a couple years, and for no good reason, I've just never taken his recommendation. So when I heard that the long-running Maryland band would be releasing its 10th album this month, I decided to seize the opportunity.

Earth Rocker is the band's first independent release, which is usually a good sign - you're getting the band as they want to sound, unfiltered and unfettered. I figured that would make this album a fine entry point for me. Earth Rocker is my first Clutch album, and though I'm not sure how many more I will buy, I liked it for what it is.

Clutch, at least on this record, is a groove metal band that lives somewhere between ZZ Top and Monster Magnet. They lay down some thick, pummeling riffs, and lead singer Neil Fallon bellows out lyrics like some unholy, kind of goofy spawn of Dave Wyndorf and Glenn Danzig. The lyrics are uniformly ridiculous, but you get the sense that Fallon doesn't really take them seriously either.

After five charging tracks ("DC Sound Attack" has exactly enough cowbell), "Gone Cold" signifies the more experimental second half. Its clean blues and sung-spoken lyrics work well, and the more expansive epics that follow - particularly closers "Oh Isabella" and "The Wolf Man Kindly Requests..." - are convincing. They've clearly been around a while, and the band sparks off each other nicely.

I'd never call Earth Rocker a masterpiece, but for fun, silly metal, it's pretty good. So, which Clutch album should I try next?