Face-melters

A sound that crawls out of the shrubbery covered in dirt and past decades of Noise, Grunge, Punk and Hardcore to stand alongside other modern incarnates the likes of Liars, No Age, Eat Skull, Death From Above 1979 and Whirlwind Heat. Clipd Beaks is the sonic grouping of Aric Blodgett, Nic Barbeln, Greg Pritchard, Ray Benjamin and Scott Ecklein, who started the band in early 2003 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after being in other bands together previously. The lyrics from a track of one of these bands’ back catalogs is also purportedly where Clipd Beaks’ current elusive title comes from. Now just Nic, Scott and Ray stay on, utilising experimental soundscape tendencies that drone and squeal into hardcore punk/metal romps, melting into cascading rhythms of the ultra-modern kind. Clipd Beaks is a very forward-thinking band. With an astonishing seven albums under their belts and epic songs always pushing the five-minute mark, their catchy, chunky, low-end bass lines, occasionally crooning vocals that dive into phenomenal, deathly screams, they’re the most satisfyingly experimental grunge/pop/noise band I’ve heard in some time. I’m desperately holding my breath for more. With their feet firmly planted in their own sound they’ve created, my personal stand out track is Melter, but all of the songs featured below, from their album Horse Lords, are excellent! Also check out their Myspace for songs from their latest album, Shards. A selection of their albums are also available on iTunes NZ.

Clipd Beaks – Melter: MP3

Clipd Beaks – Black Glass: MP3

Clipd Beaks – High On Charms: MP3

Clipd Beaks – Myspace

Posted by Sarah Gooding under California