Claw Hammer

Purveying a music squarely located on the more brutal end from the hardcore punk rock and roll spectrum, Clawhammer had been formed in LA, California, USA, in the mid-80s, acquiring their name from a Captain Beefheart lyric. Amongst their first produces was a track-by-track cover record cassette of Devo’s Q: Are We Not really Guys? A: We Are Devo! They produced their debut in 1989 with the indegent Robert EP, accompanied by a self-titled debut record for Sympathy For The Record Sector a year afterwards. The engaging Increase Pack Whack Strike EP, on the other hand, included variations of materials by Patti Smith, Pere Ubu, Brian Eno and Devo once again. However, it had been not before middle-90s when the music group, which features Jon Wahl (vocals, electric guitar, ex-Pontiac Brothers), Chris Bagarozzi (electric guitar), Rob Walther (bass) and Bob Lee (drums), initial attained mainstream prominence. Pablum, released on Epitaph Information in 1983, seduced rave testimonials, but immediately soon after they moved from the label to Interscope Information, though they maintained the providers of Epitaph mind Brett Gurewitz as manufacturer. Their debut for Interscope, Give thanks to The Holder Uppers, was another damaging stream of angst-ridden punk blues, with Wahl’s unhinged vocals and irresistibly macabre lyrical pictures holding centrestage.