Fly. Claw Boys Claw

Claw Boys Claw? That is not for me. You will not find the band on this blog; with a record that is. You can find a review of a Paradiso show in 2013 by ReginA. And then I was sent a link to a new album 'Fly'. I store albums by their release date and name, so that doesn't give away the band's name. I was listening to an album that I liked without realising what I was listening to. Especially as Peter te Bos' voice did not give it away. In the 1990s that was my main reason for switching to something else immediately.

The band will tour behind the release of Fly but also announced its farewell as a live band, not as a recording act. "Stop while we still can perform" says Te Bos, who is well into his seventies today. With Fly Claw Boys Claw looks over its shoulder. The music is garage rock and punk influenced. The kind of music Te Bos and guitarist John Cameron will have listened to in their respective youths. For a band that formed in 1983 Claw Boys Claw still sounds extremely energetic and has the enthusiasm to show what it's got. Just listen to how in 'It's A Thing' the band lets sparks fly abundantly. There is simply no holding back. And when CBC does hold back, like in 'Murder In Your Eye' then it is filling the song with mysterious sounds from the guitar that meander all through the song. Te Bos brings Nick Cave to mind in his style of singing.

Come to think of it, I've just got an analogy that I'd missed until now. I hated Nick Cave in the 80s and 90s because of ... his voice. And here I'm writing on Claw Boys Claw (and Cave and The Bad Seeds since 2013). That mystery is out of the world.

Coming back to 'Murder In Your Eye'. The song has a surfrock stamina because of the rhythm guitar that plays that few notes riff over and over. Tineke Schoemaker of Dutch blues band Barrelhouse plays angel to Te Bos' devil. I suppose that it is her voice in several other songs as well. Like in 'Page After Page' where there is this angelic "aah aah". The song is another full hit to my ears. The song has a nice 60s vibe, while it sounds modern enough to convince in 2025.

Photo: Jos van den Broek

For years now CBC is compiled of Marcus Bruystens on bass and Jeroen Kleijn on drums. (In which Dutch band of "a certain age" does Kleijn not play drums?, I wonder.) For all four it means that after this tour it is all over.

Fly contains songs that be called pop in the way it used to be made over 50 years ago. Believe it or not, some of these songs would have been played on the radio and perhaps made the Top 40 at the time. Today that is unimaginable. As an album Fly more than convinces. To my surprise, but I already explained that. Man, a song like 'She's Is Sky' sort of blows my mind. As long as life has surprises like this, it is so worth while living. Things can be so simple at times.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Fly here:

https://excelsior-recordings.com/en/collections/claw-boys-claw