Australian punks CLAMM release new album Serious Acts via Meat Machine Records
CLAMM
Share new single, "Bag I'm In"
New album Serious Acts
Out today via Meat Machine Records
On tour in UK/EU now
Naarm/Melbourne punk trio CLAMM release their new album Serious Acts, following on from the latest single "Bag I'm In" earlier this week. The record is out via Meat Machine (Cistern, N0V3L, Crack Cloud, Mock Media) and the band are currently on tour across the UK and Europe, playing Manchester tonight, Newcastle tomorrow and Brighton on Monday (full dates below).
Following the critical acclaim of Beseech Me (2020), Care (2022), and their 2024 EP Disembodiment, Serious Acts continues the band’s signature raw intensity, with frontman Jack Summers' commanding vocals and incisive lyricism delving deep into the highs and lows of human existence.
CLAMM - "Bag I'm In"
Album link:
https://orcd.co/actsserious
Upcoming UK/EU Live Dates:
30th May - YES, Manchester, UK
31st May - Zerox, Newcastle, UK
1st June - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK
2nd June - Green Door Store, Brighton, UK
3rd June - Cactus, Bruges, BEL
4th June - Gebäude 9, Cologne, GER
5th June - Wildwax Shows, Hamburg, GER
6th June - Loppen, Copenhagen, DK
7th June - His 7 (early show), Stockholm, SWE
8th June - Revolver, Oslo, NO
12th June - Vera, Groningen, NL
14th June - Le Tetris, Le Havre, FR
18th June - Sirens, La Rochelle, FR
19th June - Mac 3, Bordeaux, FR
22nd June - Paradiso (upstairs), Amsterdam
27th June - Fusion Festival, Lärz, GER
CLAMM have never shied away from facing harsh dystopian realities head on. The Naarm/Melbourne punk trio’s very existence is rooted in resistance to an ever-intensifying, tumultuous world; “while we see the same problems around us, problems that are probably only getting worse, I think we are going to continue to make music that is attempting to push against it,” guitarist and vocalist Jack Summers says. On their latest album Serious Acts, due out 30th May via Meat Machine, this incisive directness is sharper, and more necessary, than ever.
Album opener and first single “And I Try” gets straight to the point; the band’s characteristic no-nonsense lyricism and bristling punk riffs in full force alongside metallic synth loops and propulsive horns, leaning into a new, broader sound palette that CLAMM - comprised of Jack Summers, Miles Harding and Stella Rennex - expand into on this record. The track also hones in on the frank veracity that carries throughout Serious Acts: “and I try to speak, from deep inside” Summers clamours, a line emblematic of the raw confrontation across the album. One which sees CLAMM vocalise the heft of existence, alighting on issues of structural violence and mental health, economic coercion and Hyper-exploitation, climate crisis and human inertia in the face of it all. On “Blinded” the trio level at the horrific absurdity of media narratives, societal obsessions with celebrity culture and our digital age of dissociative brainrot doomscrolling. Whilst tracks like the melodically furious “No Idea” and lurching “Problem Is” tackle corruption and exploitation of labour in a system designed to only benefit the elite.
Sonically, the band adds gravitas to the topical weight they bear across Serious Acts. “We wanted it to sound as big and intense as possible”, Summers says. CLAMM recorded the album within a week, enlisting long-time collaborator Nao Anzai on sound engineer duties, recording at Head Gap Recording Studios in Preston, a space which has sadly since burned down. From there, the trio spent a few days at Rolling Stock Recordings Studios for vocal and guitar overdubs, with Seth Manchester then mixing the album in Rhode Island. “With this record we separated things a bit more in order to give Seth as much control as possible,” Summers adds. “We wanted listeners to have the experience of the intensity that might come with watching us live and I don't think that is as simple as recording it in the room”, resulting in their most raw expression yet.
Whilst CLAMM address hardships and inequalities with unwavering clarity, there’s also a certain solace to be found in the unity that sits at the core of the band. It’s knit into their existence and writing process, which doesn’t follow any strict formula but builds from an idea or element that one of them might come up with or bring to rehearsal sessions, then developing that collectively: “it’s generally important for us to come to what the song “is” together.” It’s also there in the community their sonic catharsis fosters; “I think with our music sometimes there’s sort of a celebration that happens where people get a space or community and get to connect over the fact that most of them are in agreeance that shit is fucked up”, Summers says. Which is exactly the kind of urgent and prescient space that CLAMM have cultivated with Serious Acts, further cementing their status as a vital and fresh punk presence.
Serious Acts Tracklisting:
1. And I Try
2. No Idea
3. Problem Is
4. Bag I’m In
5. Blinded
6. More Serious Acts
7. Heavy Fines, Loss Of License
8. Bear The Brunt
9. Time
10. Pigs Don’t Read
CONNECT:
Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram
Previous praise for CLAMM...
‘No needless experimentation, no ballads, no fancy time signatures, just ten classic punk rock stompers.’
- DIY ****
‘As well as succeeding in being both a culturally appropriate expression of catharsis, Care also pushes the band further in their musical development. In an uncertain world that’s riddled with chaos, Clamm are a band who find certainty in their music.’
- The Line Of Best Fit
‘...show off enough different facets... to assure listeners they have a lot of directions to grow in, whether they choose to nurture their more melodic or more chaotic sides, or continue to churn away in between.’
- NME AU ****
