Tuesday Oct. 24th (Day Trotter Session) mp3 Clem Snide Soft Spot … buy it
Pre-order The Meat of Life
Eef Barzelay and band (Brendan Fitzpatrick, on bass and Ben Martin, on drums) will release their latest album The Meat of Life on February 23rd, to what I can guarantee will be critical acclaim. At this juncture in the lifespan of Clem Snide, one can’t help but feel that they’re just hitting their stride. Last year’s Hungry Bird was the culmination of many years wait, and the consternation over it’s release only served to whet the appetite of their fans for more of Eef’s particular take on life and love. These new twelve tracks are perhaps a tad more polished, yet they remain raw enough to convey the aching melodrama that Eef is so skilled at bringing to an audience, in his lyrics and vocal delivery. In a word, The Meat of Life is poignant. Certain words hang in the air for a few seconds before a finishing chord is struck. Eefs voice quavers on songs like “Denver” when he pleads with an unnamed lover to forgive his indiscretion. The title track, “The Meat of Life,” features a powerful contrast between a smooth, dreamy delivery and the harsher, instrumental bridge that allows Fitzpatrick and Martin to let loose. Yes, this matured Clem Snide is well tuned and ready for all those changes of pace.
As on their last record, Hungry Bird, the band has brought songs that tell sad tales as well as love songs to please us. It seems that Eef is full of words, full of introspection, and has so many ways to describe it. This record is quintessential Eef. “Am I ever to feel that free again? Am I ever to feel so light? Am I ever to feel that sweet again? Am I ever to feel alright… again?” And when he sings it, I wonder for myself as well. I’m loving all the tracks, not one is out of place; this album speaks to me. I knew it would.
A special treat awaits you, my darlings. This Saturday, my good friend, Drunk Country, DC as we know him, has crafted a very interesting and unique show for The Waiting Room on WOXY.com. It is a preview of the album AND a fantastic interview DC did with Eef, Brandon and Ben in London back in May, last year. It’s a juicy, juicy show (I got a sneak peek last night of it – I’m a lucky bitch!) so tune in, and hear from the man himself, how Clem Snide got back together, where the band is going, how “the Clem Snide Guitar Sound” has come to be, among other juicy details!
Last but not least, DC is giving away two copies of Clem Snide’s new record, The Meat Of Life. So tune in to to hear how to win!
The Waiting Room on WOXY.com
Saturday
8am ET / 1pm GMT
Repeated Sunday
4pm ET / 9pm GMT
I reviewed their last show, here in Chicago and I just got word today that they’re coming to back on May 13! xoxo
Tour Dates:
5/12: Tiger Room, FT Wayne
5/13: Lincoln Hall, Chicago
5/14: Frequency, Madison
5/15: 400 Bar, Minneapolis
5/18: Mississippi Studios, Portland
5/19: Tractor Tavern, Seattle
5/20: Humboldt Brews, Arcata
5/21: Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco
5/22: Spaceland, Los Angeles
5/23: Plush, Tucson
5/25: Mohawk, Austin
5/26: Doublewide, Dallas
5/27: Hi Tone, Memphis
Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign!
Thanks for the plug ol’ gal. To put the (even if I do say so etc.) superb interview in context, it was recorded last year when then made a whistlestop one date visit to London in support of the excellent Hungry Bird LP. We didn’t want to just throw an interview of such quality into a show that, frankly, could have been just a fan wank. So we waited for something ‘special’ to come about in order to tie it in with, & as the record label were so kind as to grant us permission to preview the full album in one show we knew now was the time the interview should be aired.
Eef is incredibly frank, self-depreciating, introspective, extrovert, witty, & all those other things you’d expect from him. It’s an interview I am extremely proud of as we really got him to talk. I don’t think I’ve read or heard an interview with him where he’s been so open. Enjoy.
this really is one of your best interviews… sorry it’s taken me so long to tell you this, here. But you know, you get that feeling in the middle of it… the candidness of it all, it’s magical for a bit in there xo
fuck, bitch, it took me a damn year nigh on to get the bloody thing on air so a few weeks late on a comment aint no thing.