Kicking off the week is the latest album from the Chicago trio Bear Claw. The album, which is entitled Slow Speed: Deep Owls, is the bands second for Sickroom Records and will be out this Tuesday which just so happens to be tomorrow. Anyway, for those of you that haven’t heard Bear Claw before and consider yourselves fans of mid nineties math/noise-rock very much in the Touch and Go tradition then this will undoubtedly be right up your alley.

Bear Claw consist of two bassists, both whom sing on occasion, and a drummer. Although there are two basses it’s really not all that noticeable since one is paired up with a distortion pedal. However the sound that the two instruments end up creating together is excellent and obviously the more important matter at hand here anyway. I won’t go on about how this is anything that is significantly breaking new ground here, because obviously the guys in Bear Claw are deeply influenced by a lot of the mid nineties math/noise-rock stalwarts and it makes up a large part of their sound and we all know what that sounds like. However, I don’t understand why that needs to be a criticism, unless whoever is listening to it just never was a fan of this type of music during its prime years anyway, in that case they shouldn’t be listening to this in the first place. I imagine there are plenty out there, including me, that truly miss the sound that Bear Claw do such a great job at recapturing and even putting their own little spin on while they’re at it. I am sure Slow Speed: Deep Owls will bring a smile to plenty of people’s faces.

Bear Claw – Distant Apology [MP3]
Bear Claw – Embrace [MP3]

For those that are enjoying the tunes above, then don’t forget to head on over to Sickroom Records and pick up this album. Good stuff.

Labels: math-rock, noise-rock