CLAW TOE – EP

Independent, 2013 
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7/10

A black hearted slab of angular post punk from Chicago audio nasties Claw Toe, this six track EP sounds like Gestapo Zombies covering the Anti Nowhere League with help from The Mighty Boosh, circa Future Sailors.

I don’t think it’s meant to make sense, but it works regardless. Another Saturday Night is a mean spirited channelling of Scary Monsters Bowie through a burning suburban wasteland; The Drugs Song could probably not be written without the help of some whilst Self-Help For The Hopeless’s staccato vocal delivery, post punk riffs and nihilistic lyrics are intoxicatingly trance-like.

One shouldn’t expect disco pop from a band of dudes named Claw Toe, Mungo Creature, Bongo Spasm, Museum of Death, and Infectious Rex, so when they do crack out a disco beat, it’s to a frankly scary synth wash in the track Geriatric Stalker. Yep.

A cover of Functional Blackouts Kamikaze could soundtrack the apocalypse, and closer Panic Attack embodies all the paranoia and anxiety the name suggests.

Claw Toe aren’t commercial – hell, they aren’t even necessarily fun to listen to. They make confronting music with wilfully obnoxious and offensive lyrics, and frankly, they’re dead set cool.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/CLAW-TOE/213904185302736

Category: CD Reviews