Scrotum Clamp

With this name, and the punk-style cartoon bomb on the front of the CD cover of this DIY release, I was fully expecting a thrashy, predictable ripoff of ‘The Exploited’. As someone who spent their musical introductions listening to that sort of stuff, it was going to take a lot to impress me if this was the case.

However, I have to say I was genuinely surprised. And when the trumpets came in on ‘Mysterons’, I was almost bowled over in shock.

The fuzzy guitar sounds about right for what I expected, and the jangly ska-type clean jinglings that have been bastardised by our mainstream indie friends is in the ballpark too, but everything else treads the line into more creative territory.

There’s more ‘Art Brut’ observationalism than there is ‘Filth and Fury’, and thank God for that, although there’s just the right amount of disdain in there to render it the first ‘punk’ record in years that I’d bother listening to more than once. ‘Careful Lemmings’ manages to smash Johnny Rotten and the ‘Brut together fairly effectively, and is probably my favourite track off the album.

If you’re into rough ska-punk, and haven’t heard anything lately worth bothering about, check out this band. Download the MP3 ‘Careful Lemmings’ below, then go forth to buy the album.

Stephen McLeod
- Art Rocker

Scrotum Clamp are a five piece band from London and judging by the name and look of the band you would expect them to be a crazy punk rock band who would want to kick the shit out of you and give Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols a run for their money when it comes to anarchy, but when you actually listen to their music you realise that they are more of a dirty ska punk band who actually have quite an uplifting and pleasing sound, this is proof that you should never judge a band by their look and name but don’t sue me if they do kick the shit out of you.

The bands self released new album ‘I Am One’ has recently been released and it is an really interesting listen, it’s upbeat, fast, fun and very random and has the overall feel of a big arse party in a box or should I say in a CD.

The opening track ‘Mysterons’ will shock you with the whole upbeat melodic nature that it has and when the trumpets come in you will be in even more shock as the song is full of happiness and piece, there are no screaming moments or punk rock attitude in place throughout the song and the majority of the album.

‘Half And Half’, opens with a fast open word introduction with lyrics of “Someones got more stuff than I got, I’ve never done no wrong and look where it’s got me and I don’t know”, yeah granted the lyrics aren’t that well thought about or written but the general groove and pace of the song is fantastic with big trumpet sounds and fuzzy sounding guitar riffs which are going to leave you wanting to polish off your finest shoes and skank along to the fast paced beats.

‘Live Here’ really reminds me of a song by [Spunge], it has that big ska feel about it but just as the song starts to get going and good it fades back down before building up again just like a little tease that never fully reaches its peak, still it’s a good listen.

‘Yowl’ was one of the first song’s that I heard by Scrotum Clamp and it still sounds as good now as it did back in the summer when I first heard it, the song is a lot different than the other tracks on the album and features a little bit more attitude and random growls.

‘Vicious’ was the other song that I first listened to back in the summer and the song gave me the impression that Scrotum Clamp were a band who had the look, attitude and sound to match the Sex Pistols as the song tells a story of a vicious person who has nice friends and features much name calling such as calling people a wanker and a vicious little bastard, the song is upbeat but features a slight aggressive nature, with the backing sounds of people taunting each other before some knocks someone out with the old bill or Ambulance turning up seconds later with the sounds of sirens, whilst Scrotum Clamp speed up their sound in a massive way.

The best track on the album is ‘Careful Lemmings’ the track is fast and furious with some killer guitar riffs and big melodic vocals which pack a big old punch.

You can defiantly tell that Scrotum Clamp are a bit of a DIY band who like to do things themselves and have no support from bigwigs within the industry as there sound is totally random and dirty sounding but so listenable, think of a more upbeat random version of art Brut with the look of the Sex Pistols cross dressing then you will have a clear understanding of what to expect from Scrotum Clamp, just don’t expect to hear them on radio 1 any time soon.

4/5

Review by Trigger - Alternative Vision