#AOTW: Shannon and The Clams

My string of finding bands with wackadoo names seems to continue. In this case I didn’t find them. They found me. My friend Mike Clair (@clairbearattack) sent me an email a few weeks back. No Subject Line. It just read “WE NEED TO GO TO THIS” which was followed by a link.

I clicked it to find that it was for a show featuring the band Diarrhea Planet. Oddly enough they were playing a venue called The Smell (It’s true…you couldn’t make that shit up). I went. It was…it was something. They may have had the worst band name ever, but they still featured 4 lead guitarists that could all shred. I was going to write about them this week, but I was having doubts. How many times did I want to type the word diarrhea? How many times was I going to viagra super active have to use spellcheck to correct how I had initially spelled diarrhea? It was disconcerting.

The next morning I went for a haircut with Amelia. She’s my new lady. Hair cut lady that is. As she was cutting my hair in the early hours of Saturday, I heard something enchanting come across the speakers. I didn’t know the band, but it took me back. Sounded like the classic oldies my mom would play from time to time back in the day. I’d be buckled in the back seat of her maroon Volvo singing my little heart out.

Let’s stop for a second. Has anyone been listening to the oldies stations lately? The oldies now are only going as far back as 1975. The fuck is going on with that? Do songs get too old to be oldies? Did we really need fresh oldies? Radio execs are gonna sit there and tell us that people were sick and tired of hearing Rockin’ Robin and Walk Like A Man?

That 50’s sound has a real special place in my memories. God. I listened to those in simpler times. Better times. Before I understood that consuming Jack Daniels and Vicodin could help me achieve happiness. Before I realized a woman could tell you she loves you one day and then go fuck your friend from college the next, and despite that betrayal you still can’t get her out of your head. Oh sweet innocent 6 year-old Kelly. You happy bastard.

Anyway, as Amelia clipped my luscious locks, I heard that warm familiar sound and was intrigued. Upon asking the name of the band, she walked over to where the iPod was playing and told me that the band was called Shannon and the Clams. Great. Another band with a fucked up name that I inevitably must write about. Weird name for sure, but I’ll be damned if they don’t have a cool vibe and solid tunes. I’ll write about Diarrhea Planet after Halloween. When all the candy has been eaten and everyone’s insides are spilling out sugar-filled rot. Diarrhea Planet will be relevant then. So this week’s AOTW: Shannon and The Clams.

S & The C’s hail from Oakland, CA. They came up in the late 2000’s rocking out in local garages all over the Bay Area. The trio is made up of Shannon Shaw (Bass), Cody Blanchard (Guitar), and Ian Amberson (Drums). All these cats sing as well. Shannon and her Clams are doing their damnedest to keep the beautiful sounds of old school R & B and Buddy Holly Doo-Wop alive. They have embraced that “golden age of radio” sound and are making it their own. Each song has that warm hum of the Hi-Fi speaker that I grew up listening to and it makes me feel good inside. I think the best description of the Clams sound was given by Shannon herself; she describes them as “cozy, familiar, punk-oldies”. Sure their songs remind you of a bygone era but it doesn’t mean that they don’t fucking thrash.

Their first album I Wanna Go Home was released in 2009. Its’ main driving forces are the throwback vocals ad the surf guitar. The record is raw, sweaty, and fun as hell. Here is my favorite track on the record Troublemaker.

Two years later they released their Sophomore effort. It was more polished, but you still got the same energy from the band. They play at a relentless pace that dares you not to stand up and dance. The songs are more diverse and we get to hear a wider range in vocal styling from Shannon, which is nice. My favorite song on this record is The Woodsman. They slow things down and Shannon just belts it out. The result is a song that any of the doo-wop groups of yesteryear would be delighted by.

This past May they dropped their third and most recent album. It also happens to possess one of the strangest album names I’ve heard in about a minute, Dreams In The Rat House. The stand out for me on this release is the vocals of Cody Blanchard. He runs shop on his songs and the harmonies between he and Shannon are delightful.

Here is Cody on Hey Willy

I like bands like Shannon and The Clams. They are new group doing their best to keep a genre of music alive, a genre that is being pushed out of earshot by dub-step and top 40. Let’s get down with some old soundin’ shit this week you guys. Let us remember when we used to listen to oldies in the back of Mom’s Volvo and reflect back on those “good baby” times. I think it’s important we all revisit them every now and again. Just to remind ourselves we weren’t always the piece of shit monsters that we are today.

Big Hugs,

Kelly