aaamusic | On 23, Apr 2012

It’s not very often I feel like a press release has got it right, but Clockwork Era’s little write up for ‘Fear Inside’ has it dead on. All the malevolent noisiness of The Jesus Lizard, with a mesmeric force in its relentless drumming and driving, repetitive lyrics, and tacked onto that an observant bitterness that speaks of listening to the better part of The Fall. But really what matters is that Clockwork Era have cut to the chase and released four top-quality songs that will burn through the blasé indifference coating many an idea with their caustic attention-grabbing.
Title track ‘Fear Inside’ almost sneaks up with its sparse feedback and drums intro before it gathers speed, picking up a dark punky riff that fills the speakers with surprising power for one distorted guitar, and a vocal delivery that is both understated and totally commanding. The drums keep at it with noisy insistence that borders on “runaway freight train” which lends itself well to the pushing lyrics, and even the breakdowns barely feel like they let up the pace, building to the thrashing final chorus. This leads right into the stomping, doomy (but not Doom) ‘Kids Are Clowns’ which lurches with sonic glee and political fury from what sounds like nursery rhymes fed through The Cure’s guitar rig, and a heavily distorted chanting fever that pitches the song into a whole other nightmare.
‘White Sound’ takes the EP back to slightly more palatable territory for those who are perhaps uncomfortable with one-liner songs as it develops itself lyrically beyond absolute blunt force, while dragging us through the most evil parts of the huge field of “post-punk”, meaning buzzsaw guitars, breathless vocal delivery, and enough cymbals to make me wonder exactly how many arms the drummer has, and how she makes them cut through the impossibly thick guitar squalls that make up the intense sound this band make. Without letting up for a second, we get the three-chord juggernaut ‘Killing In Time’, which even lets up the no-holds-barred approach they take for a choppy break with an almost arrhythmic strobing stop/start that is so bewildering that it could only be pulled off by a phenomenally tight two-piece, leading into possibly the most “chorus” chorus of the song, even dropping hints of melody into the fury, before descending into the unmistakeable stomp of a set-ender.

I like a band who sound like they know their live stuff, and a band that structures their release like a miniature set will tick many a good box on my list. Clockwork Era could possibly push the envelope to include a bit more diversity in tone, but the absolute unapologetic sonic bludgeon that is ‘Fear Inside’ is a statement by a band that I am sure will be here to stay and here to grab your attention. Right now. Your attention. Now.

★★★★★

Katie H-Halinski