Clutch

Clutch is a hard rock/heavy metal band from The Beltway area of the eastern United States. Known of their blending of styles between heavy metal, blues, and punk (among others), and their out-there lyrics, Clutch has developed a strong cult following in North America.

Originally dismissed as Helmet wannabes, Clutch developed a unique, distinctive sound over the years. Among the noticeable changes is lead singer Neil Fallon's vocal development from guttural growler to a more nuanced, bluesy sound.

Clutch has never broken through big-time in the mainstream, although many of their songs have managed to become Earworms without people knowing who they are (Escape From The Prison Planet (on the Escape From L.A. soundtrack, Mob Goes Wild, 10001110101, and recently Electric Worry from the Left 4 Dead 2 commercials).

Fallon's sister is a cake maker on Ace of Cakes and the band has appeared in one episode where they were made a cake that looked like their signature orange amp.

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Clutch provides examples of the following tropes:

• Audience Participation Song: Several, but 10001110101 and Mob Goes Wild especially.
• Badass Beard: Neil Fallon, most of the time.
• Badass Boast:
  • Subtle Hustle

I got your number!
I'll steal your thunder!
I got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm!

• Black Sheep Hit: Careful With That Mic
• Canon Discontinuity: Most of their first album and EP, though fan favorites El Jefe Speaks, Rats, and especially A Shogun Named Marcus will slip into their live sets.
• Careful with That Axe: Parodied on the rap metal song (for real, Neil has surprisingly good hip hop flow) Careful With That Mic.
• Conspiracy Theorist: Most explicitly, Escape From the Prison Planet and Animal Farm (see below). Other references include Bob Lazaar, David Icke (Oregon), MJ-12, the Skull & Bones society, Atlantis and The Men in Black.

Couldn't give a damn bout JFK!

Everything is conspiracy!

• Epic Rocking: Binge and Purge, to the point its banned from their live setlist, due to the crowd getting too violent at the apex (ie, best moshing time) of the song.
• Grief Song: The Regulator
• Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Generally between 5 and 7 on the scale, although songs like Impetus or Milk of Human Kindness jump up to 8 or maybe even 9.
• Mind Screw: Some of their lyrics go beyond bizarre and seem to be attempting to create their own mythos.
  • Oregon

And so it was that I, a wayward throw back to the Mesozoic, was enslaved as a circus freak to entertain you drunken monkeys. But Fate still had her twisted sense of humor and granted me safe passage to southern Florida, where over the past three hundred years I have been breeding with an unheard of efficiency. Soon my progeny will rise up and say "HAIL DRACO, king of the dragon men!"

• Protest Song: Mob Goes Wild
• Shout-Out / Song of Song Titles:
  • Rising Son refers to Captain Beyond and the song Dancing Madly Backwards.
  • 10001110101 makes reference to the Robot Lords of Tokyo--another hard rock band--and the "temple of Syrinx" which is a nod to Rush's 2112.
    • This troper heard that Robot Lords of Tokyo took their name from the song in the first place.
  • Cypress Grove contains the line "Holy Diver, where you at" in the chorus.
  • Subverted in 50,000 Unstoppable Watts. The shout of "Anthrax!" does not refer to the band, but to the actual disease.