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IVH: Year of the Spider [1]
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Date: 2022-11-03
Shannon & the Clams
Tonight’s selections from Oakland’s Shannon & the Clams’ sixth album, Year of the Spider. We’ve seen Shannon & the Clams live twice this year and once back in 2018. They’ve put on a great show every time.
Year of the Spider [2021]
Two years ago, after a series of misfortunes left her questioning everything, Shannon Shaw did what anyone in the midst of such crisis would do: She visited an astrologist. The vocalist and bassist for the Oakland rock band Shannon and the Clams was advised to channel the power of Durga, a vigilant Hindu goddess who can be recognized by her eight arms; Shaw, a noted arachnophobe, caught onto this irony right away. “I was getting protection from the thing I feared the most,” she explained. These tentative but notable steps outside her comfort zone drive Shannon and the Clams’ sixth studio album, Year of the Spider. Since forming in 2009, Shannon and the Clams have infused garage rock with flourishes of ‘60s doo-wop and neo-psychedelia; their last record, 2018’s Onion, was especially indebted to that era. On Year of the Spider, they dig even deeper into their old-school repertoire and its various off-shoots: “All of My Cryin’,” written and sung by guitarist Cody Blanchard, struts with a disco flair before bursting into ABBA-lite harmonies. The atmospheric synths of “Midnight Wine” approximate those of Suicide, while the eerie “Snakes Crawl” feels like a take on classic country. By incorporating a wider array of subgenres without losing their core identity, Shannon and the Clams create music that’s familiar without feeling redundant. Year of the Spider is not only the most musically diverse Shannon and the Clams record, but it’s also the most lyrically affecting. The highlight “Mary, Don’t Go” references a stalker who forced Shaw to move out of her apartment. The chorus evokes the heartbreak of bidding farewell to her roommate: “I’d like to protect you, but what if I can’t?” “In the Hills, In the Pines” mourns shuttered fixtures of the Clams’ Bay Area DIY scene and the relationships that fizzled out as a result: “And the people I knew/They just fled in the night,” Blanchard sings. The Motown saunter of “Vanishing” backdrops Shaw’s heartbreaking reflection on her father’s diagnosis with cancer: “Open up, open up/You’re still here/Weary mind, bleary eyes/You’re not vanishing.” While Year of the Spider is devoid of love songs in the most traditional sense, Shaw depicts the bond between her family, her community, and her friends with just as much passion and empathy. — Pitchfork
Midnight Wine [2021]
In theory, it’s no surprise that Year of The Spider sounds nothing like what we’ve heard recently. After all, it’s likely one of the very few new albums to be released in 2021 that was recorded before a global pandemic took hold. Having wrapped up recording of the record in early 2020, the group finished sessions with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach just before Nashville was hit by a devastating series of tornadoes. If that wasn’t enough of a warning of things to come, it was just weeks later that the world shut down due to COVID-19. In this situation, most artists found themselves working towards a goal. Perhaps they recorded a new song? A new album? Or perhaps they just did live performances from home? For Shannon & The Clams though, they had plenty of music, but they just couldn’t release it. After all, how do you release a record in the midst of a global pandemic? Certainly not with relish, that’s for sure. Close to 18 months later though, Shannon & The Clams have finally unveiled their sixth album, and immediately, it’s clear that it’s one of their finest efforts to date. Armed with the classic ’60s-inspired rockabilly/doo-wop/soul revival that they’re known for, Year of The Spider is one created with a refreshing take on their sound, injected with a vigour and exuberance that’s not been seen for many a month. Ironically, singer Shannon Shaw explained to Rolling Stone earlier this year that many of the tracks on the album were in fact written against the background of numerous stressful situations, including caring for her father, the threat of looming wildfires, and an ever-present Peeping Tom at her apartment complex. But how then does an album such as Year of The Spider, one that feels resilient, jubilant, and carefree, emerge in the midst of such a difficult time? It might be a mystery, but it’s the distillation of these experiences that translate into this uniquely vibrant album. — Rolling Stone
All Of My Cryin' [2021]
With Year Of The Spider, we dive into the spheroidal nature of the multiverse at work; its existence within and amidst us and our surroundings. An elegant cycle of destroy and rebuild, the praxis of woolgatherers and grand aspirers; paradisiacal ambrosian graciousness. This is an ephemeral reminder: energy is a conserved quantity; the law of conservation of energy states that energy can be converted in form, but not created or destroyed. So hold those loved ones tight, as consequent of the eternal, we've only the moment. — Post-trash
Umm… ok.
Do I Wanna Stay (Live on KEXP) [2022]
WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Kimmel: Rob McElhenney, Emayatzy Corinealdi, the Heavy Heavy
Jimmy Fallon: Bashir Salahuddin, Diallo Riddle, Paramore
Stephen Colbert: Bono
Seth Meyers: Cecily Strong, Evan Rachel Wood, Dena Tauriello
James Corden: Kal Penn, Melissa Fumero
The Daily Show: Dominique Wilkins
SPOILER WARNING
A late night gathering for non serious palaver that does not speak of that night’s show. Posting a spoiler will get you brollywhacked. You don’t want that to happen to you. It's a fate worse than a fate worse than death.
Seattle’s Pretty Girls Make Graves. Named after a Smiths song (which itself was taken from a Kerouac quote).
Pretty Girls Make Graves :: This Is Our Emergency [2003]
LAST WEEK’S POLL: THE ADDAMS FAMILY OR THE MUNSTERS?
The Addams Family 74% 28 votes
The Munsters 26% 10 votes
[END]
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