Bear Claw – One-Sider
Bear Claw are a band from Austin, Texas with a distinctly Irish-sounding (that’s not just me, is it?) lead vocal and a bloody excellent line in low-fi acoustic pop.
The recording is pretty basic as well. I may not be an audio expert, but the drums sound pretty raw to me, and there is very little more to the instrumentation than simple guitar, vocals and a little melodica from time to time. The female backing vocals add an awful lot of depth and prettiness, but in general this is a really basic, no-frills record.
When it’s used this well, though, the low-fi nature of it and the uncomplicated arrangements really don’t matter; in fact I’d say they add to the charm. The tunes are invariably good, and the rhythm rolls nicely, lulling me into that sort of satisfied headphones head-nod you get at work when listening to something that tickles you.
This EP was originally self-released on cassette, but it is now being repressed on 10″ vinyl, I believe, by the really rather intriguing-looking Monofonus Press, a DIY Austin record label and art collective in whom fans of Song, by Toad Records should find an awful lot to love.
There’s not a lot of info out there on the band, but if you check their MySpace page and their profile page on Monofonus you’ll see an awful lot of seminal Scottish bands name-checked, including Edinburgh’s own Shop Assistants, as well as The Vaselines and The Pastels. This stuff doesn’t really have the harsh edge which defined much of the output of those bands, but there’s definitely a flat, deadpan delivery to their recordings which is evocative of that era of indie music. More like this please!
Bear Claw – Warm Winter/Cold Fall
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I like this but, I not sure how much of the appeal is how raw it sounds. It has a ‘should be played in a Texas baroom feel’. I worry that if they get a bigger deal they would vanish into the land of ‘just meh’.
Well I see what you mean, but all four songs on this release are strong. Certainly you can never tell if a band has any more good stuff in them from so little evidence, but this is still a really good start if you ask me.
A very good start. Although I’ll have to wait until I’m back home to buy a copy.
Yeah, Mr. Boasty Off Having Fun. Eat Nico Muhly, jackass.