Little Claw was born in Detroit, Michigan during the Great Eastern Seaboard blackout of 2003… having nothing to do, nowhere to go, Heath Heemsbergen and Kilynn Lunsford began playing their acoustic guitars and singing into the darkness. An auspicious beginning to be sure… Even now, Little Claw are still strumming and screaming into the void.

Formed originally with Jamie Easter from the Piranhas on drums, the band played a string of shows, starting with their debut performance with legendary Ohio art-punks the Bizarros, which then led to the recording of the first Little Claw LP with Warn Defever (His Name Is Alive). The album was released by Ypsilanti records in 2005. Jamie left the band in the summer of 2005 and after one show as a duo, Hendrik Deherder joined up on the drums. A second LP was recorded with Matthew Smith (Outrageous Cherry) in his Hamtramck living room mid-2006 and was subsequently released by Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label in 2007. Later that year, there was a release of a split 7″ single with Michael Yonkers on X! records.

Little Claw’s move from the urban nightmare of Detroit to the more subtle cloudy terrors of Portland, Oregon prompted some more augmentations to the line-up: Adam Svenson (of Seattle improv band Du Hexen Hase) took over the caveman beat on the drums, freeing up Henrik to bang the synth and add additional percussion. On the road and on recordings, the Little Claw sound is graced by the touch of Toledo native, Damon Sturdivant (Puffy Areolas, Tyvek) on additional percussion and synth.

Are you ready for this? HUMAN TASTE opens innocently enough with the title track’s rapidly strummed intro and the distant vocal (that really sounds like it’s recorded in another room, hell another planet even…). There’s a strong melody and coherent lyrics underpinned by a seriously powerful rhythm. Imagine raw and then some… ‘Frankie’ opens with a nightmarish electric guitar thrash, pile-driving snare drum rhythm before a male vocal appears way out in the distance. This song is as deathly dark and angry as anything I have ever heard. ‘Frozen In The Future’ gets dirtier and angrier with no real separation between instrumental and vocal sounds. The overall impression is one of raw emotion through a one-take recording and a sound that batters the senses. Now we all know grunge music, well we thought we did anyway. ‘Modern Vampire’ proves that grunge – in its strictest meaning – is alive and kicking. It’s the only way I can describe this astonishingly raucous and raw track. What’s all the more astonishing is that behind this disturbing sound is a strong melody, mind-blowing rhythm, astounding instrumental performances and unique set of vocals that sound as though they’ve been mashed up in a commercial blender.

‘Lay To Waste’ opens with a single chord guitar strum, tribal drum beating out a warning message. In the distance a strangled vocal eventually disappears, the pace slackens and the song dies. ‘Breathing Tale’ sounds like some nightmarish fairytale or skipping song being played out in hell’s playground. ‘Golden Boy’ is the most conventional song here (well, sort of…) with its acoustic guitar strummed rhthmic backdrop and a vocal performance that can just about be heard. But it’s the instrumental sound that hits you and especially during the song’s later moments when instruments take over completely. It’s an absolute mind-fuck.  

I’ve lived with the album for a couple of weeks now and each time I play it more is revealed. And I don’t think I’ve heard anything that comes this close in modern rock to self-expression – it’s brutal, self-mutilation through music. It’s not easy to listen to but immensely rewarding none-the-less. I dare you…

4/5