Clutch: Psychic Warfare

Clutch: Psychic Warfare

2015

Weathermaker Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1.  The Affidavit  2. X-Ray Visions  3. Firebirds!  4. A Quick Death in Texas  5. Sucker for the Witch  6. Your Love Is Incarceration  7. Doom Saloon  8. Our Lady of Electric Light  9. Noble Savage  10. Behold the Colossus  11. Decapitation Blues  12. Son of Virginia



I love this one. My favorite Clutch album since "From Beale Street to Oblivion." "Strange Cousins from the West" seemed a bit routine and "Earth Rocker" was exciting as hell but the songwriting felt a bit hollow to me...But "Psychic Warfare" is perfect. 

From the awesome conspiracy-minded opener "X-Ray Visions" it's apparent what Clutch has done. They've taken the raw speed and energy from "Earth Rocker" and melded it to their bluesier, wordier side. The best of all possible worlds. This is one of those albums where there's just no way you can pick a favorite song. Everything's great. I think the only ones that I would consider a smidgen lesser would be "Decapitation Blues" or maybe "Our Lady of Electric Light." The rest is all frosting.

I'll try to pick some favorites, though...I love "Firebirds!" and "Noble Savage" which are full-throttle Earth-Rocker types that blow away anything from that album (except maybe "D.C. Sound Attack"). Super fast and catchy. And there's a three-song run in the first half ("A Quick Death in Texas," "Sucker for the Witch" and "Your Love is Incarceration") that squarely hits that classic-rock loving sweet-spot for me. I honestly can't think of a modern band that can do classic-style rock as convincingly as Clutch...Again, it's a sad thing that classic rock radio playlists petrified in the early 90's (save for the odd active-rock yarler) cos these songs would be shoo-ins...I also have to give a thumbs-up to "Behold the Colossus" for featuring Tim Sult's most subtle and well-composed guitar solo...Plus the lyrics (drenched in Greek mythology) make me want to hang out with a clockwork owl...

The best though, and possibly up there in the pantheon of all-time great Clutch songs (along with "Spacegrass," "Elephant Riders" and "Electric Worry") is the album closer, "Son of Virginia" which is by far Clutch's most successful attempt at a slow, bluesy rocker. Oh, my God, this song is perfect. The surreal lyrics (featuring a sarcophagus and a talking, smoking dog) set against the grand, surging ROCK is unexpectedly powerful...Perfecting the sepia-tone they pioneered way back on "Elephant Riders," the track starts slowly with a dusty, twangy riff but ends as the most majestic, earth-shaking motherfucker ever recorded...There's no way this doesn't become their standard set-closer...

 For extra head-spinning effect, put on "Transnational Speedway League" directly after you finish this album...I did that the other day at work, and it struck me that back when that album first came out I don't think I could have predicted that Clutch would still be rocking it 20 years later or that they would ever end up sounding quite like this...These guys have progressed so far beyond their initial promise that it's mind-boggling...Easily one of my favorite bands on the planet...

Here's "Son of Virginia" by Clutch...Enjoy...