We Love It Clumsy
Shawn Rider, guerrillA, November 14, 1997
If I could match the sheer energy of Clumsy Lovers shows in words, this tawdry little zine would blow up in your hands. Fortunately, we're just not that good around here. These guys and gal are local legends. If you've been living in Moscow, and you haven't experienced the Clumsy Lovers (and I'm not talking about their interlude as the Six Million Dollar Band), you haven't really been living in Moscow.The Lovers have been described as "raging Celtic banshee rock," but really they're so much more. They beg near-academic analysis. Cam, Cam, Chris, Chris, Kevin and Andrea cite a multitude of different bands and styles as influences. And you'd expect that, because it's really necessary in a band sporting drums (that's Cam Jonat), bass (that's Cam's brother Chris), guitar (other Cam), guitar/mandolin (Chris...Hamilton, that is), fiddle (Andrea), and bagpipes/fiddle (Kevin). Y'know, it takes all kinds.
So they come off as unlike anything you've ever really heard. The Pogues meets They Might Be Giants? Kind of. The sound definitely has a Celtic flavor to it. Sometimes, it manifests itself in straight up jigs and reels. Other times the Celtic influence is more subtle, giving way to funky/ska/booty rock.
And if there's anything that's more frustrating than trying to describe the Clumsy Lovers, it's waiting for their next album. My Red Tape is pretty much worn through. That's the first album they made a few years ago. As the Six Million Dollar Band, they recorded a CD, but that's pretty much extinct. None of the current Lovers really like that album anymore anyway. They said they wanted to capture the spirit of the Red Tape again on their new CD, and had planned on recording their upcoming shows at John's Alley (Nov. 21 & 22) and releasing a live album. The recording plans for next week fell through, due to "various unpredictable reasons," and they're now planning on doing a studio album in order to get something out expediantly. That's the word on the street (well, from Chris Jonat anyway). But have no fear for the new album: The Red Tape was recorded in a studio as well--in basically one breathless take.
So if you've failed to see the Lovers in all their re-instated glory you've truly failed to get loose in any significant way. Beat feet to the Alley the 21 & 22 and feel the love.