We live in a world where we’re currently limited in the things we can do, yet witness the lack of control towards those at the top who make decisions with the intention of increasing the gap between us and them. Rightfully, there’ve been a lot of protest in various countries. It’s a never-ending battle to make your voice heard, but one that must be done.
Australian trio CLAMM are doing exactly that with debut album Beseech Me. Coming in at under thirty minutes, it’s a record that gets everything off its chest. Launching sharpened questions at those in power, bolstering them with a sound that’s dying to tear apart the eardrums.
Lead single ‘Keystone Pols’ drew up the blueprint for this sound. Ripping at the seams with guitars sounding more like sirens throughout, clattering against the barrage of drums. The vocals get dragged along this speeding instrumental, sounding comprehendible but with all the passion needed to get the point across. It makes for a real satisfying listen and provides a solid idea of what to expect from the album.
With distortion ringing throughout, Beseech Me is full of personality. ‘Liar’ opens with a skull crushing set of drums played against a simple yet frantic riff that quickly descends into madness. Its high energy is perfect for the introduction, and also allows the song to seemingly crumble away, making it all the more exciting. ‘Repress’ follows with a chugging drive that launches into bold statements of “I DON’T WANT YOUR FUCKING MONEY / I JUST WANT TO BE OUTSIDE” which encapsulates a lot of the anger people have had over the last year especially.
The pummelling bassline on ‘Dog’ adds a different flavour to CLAMM’s sound and brings some groove into the mix, which bleeds through onto songs such as ‘I Feel Better Now’ and ‘Cardiac Ablation’ without taking away too much angst. Especially on the former, as it screeches with distortion to remind you of its intensity.
Beseech Me is a straight up thunder punch from start to finish. It follows a classic Punk ethos and injects all of that frustration and desire to fuck things up into the modern world. This is a great record to get angry to, and acts as a great starting point for a promising act like CLAMM.
Photo credit: Oscar O’Shea