Aural Fixations

CLUTCH
Blast Tyrant
(Issachar Entertainment/DRT)
The long-running heavy rock band Clutch hit a personal milestone with its last studio album Pure Rock Fury, a stunning, powerhouse piece of groove-metal that reiterated the fact that carefully-crafted songwriting and wild rock & roll abandon are not opposing concepts. Blast Tyrant, the proper follow-up following a water-treading live record, proves that the Maryland-based quartet is on a roll. (more)

DAVID & THE CITIZENS
Until the Sadness is Gone
(Adrian/Border Music))
One of the things I love about this whole rock critic gig is getting knocked on my ass by someone I've never heard before. Let me introduce you to my latest assailant: David & the Citizens. The Swedish quintet mixes folk, rock, Dixieland, marches, klezmer and more into its multi-faceted music. The Pogues and Brave Combo could be touchstones, but so could the Klezmatics. In the hands of songwriter David Fridlund, it all comes out as melodic pop anyway. (more)

I CAN LICK ANY SONOFABITCH IN THE HOUSE
Menace
(In Music We Trust)
The argument's been made that the best rock & roll is about feeling, emotion, catharsis. Craft and polish are all well and good, but ulitmately there better be a throbbing heart under all the machinery, or the effort is tantamount to an empty gesture. In that light, no one feels things deeper or more painfully than Mike D, the leader of Portland, Oregon's I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House. (more)

CHUCK PROPHET
Age of Miracles
(New West)
Chuck Prophet is on a streak. With a consistency born out of a strong work ethic and an almost obscene amount of pure talent, he's released three great albums in a row. So does his latest record Age of Miracles achieve the standards of Homemade Blood, The Hurting Business and No Other Love? (more)