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Clockwise
Blow Your Soul Bright EP
(independent) - 2021
Michael Panontin
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How would things have been different if the overthrow of prog had been engineered by the power-popsters instead of the punks? I mean, if instead of the Stooges and the Velvet Underground our touchstones had been Badfinger and the Raspberries? And rather than leather jackets emblazoned with the Clash and the Pistols the kids in the late seventies sported corduroy ones adorned with Shoes, Squeeze and Nick Lowe?
These are the things that keep me up at night, and I'm willing to bet that the thought has crossed Claude Kent's mind over the years. The erstwhile punk once drummed for the Fits, who bequeathed a pretty amazing single in 1979 with their pedal-to-the-metal Bored of Education EP. But since 1998 he has headed up one of Canada's best-kept secrets, Clockwise, a band that certainly owes a hook or two to the aforementioned power-pop artists.
The Toronto-based quartet - presently songwriter, guitarist and singer Kent, along with Bojan Milo (lead guitar), Scott Sherman (bass) and Gord Fynes (drums) - dropped their most recent record, the Blow Your Soul Bright EP, in November and it's a dandy. The five tracks fizz with effervescent riffs and hummable melodies. Add to that Kent's lyrics, which at his age betray a lifetime's worth of valuable experience, and you've got a pretty enjoyable listen. Choosing a best-of-the-bunch here is fruitless, as they are all pretty solid efforts. 'All Mixed Up', Kent's take on Toronto's worrisome descent into gangs and violence, is catchy as all get-out. Ditto for 'Get Back Girl', a bittersweet break-up ditty that recalls the best of seventies AM radio.
Clockwise has already had four tracks featured on those swell International Noise Conspiracy comps. So if you're not going to take my word for it, then take theirs and check this out.
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Clockwise
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