Clamm - Beseech Me (2021)

Melbourne musicians Jack Summers and Miles Harding were already making loud, cacophonous music as members of both the mercurial Dragoons and synthy garage pop band Gamjee, but they still wanted to explore even more visceral sounds. They did just that with the formation of Clamm, a red-lined punk trio who deal in feedback, abrasive riffs, and blown-out blasts of power and aggression. The group's debut album, Beseech Me, rolls by like an avalanche of intensity, with ten songs of fast-paced punk that rarely hit the three-minute mark. "Dog" is built on relentless buzz-saw guitar riffing and breakneck drumming, with Summers' vocals sounding like an equal-parts combination of Iggy Pop's swaggering drawl and Mark E. Smith's drunkest shouts. Clamm keep the energy on high throughout the record, slowing down only incrementally on moments like the drawn-out noise intro of "Confused" and the sultry midtempo groove of album closer "Bossman." There's a methodology to the band's mayhem, and standout tracks like "Keystone Pols" manage to be dissonant and catchy at once. Beseech Me recalls the energetic peaks of psychedelic punks Thee Oh Sees or Ty Segall freak-rock side project Goggs. Clamm's storm of cathartic energy disguises how intricately constructed the songs are and makes Beseech Me both exhilarating and engaging.