Austin Sound

Frantic Clam’s sophomore EP, Anatomica, has been garnishing a lot — I mean A LOT — of praise from critics, fans, and musical savants alike. And there’s a good reason for that. Anatomica is a collection of the catchiest and most refreshing songs I have heard in a long time. It seems that artists today are always trying to punctuate their sound and de-genre-fy themselves in order to get recognition (i.e. Ponytail), but Frantic Clam easily dodges labeling while still remaining relevant. Anatomica is an album composed in grandeur. The themes of the songs are all-encompassing and anthemic, the instrumentation is heavy, yet the album achieves a very accessible and grounded feel.

The opening fuzz rocker “We Own the Night” seems reminiscent of glam-era Bowie with a little bit of bouncy, bubble-gum pop permeating the Clam’s poignant jowl-esque vocals and bleeding heart grunge. And with famous last words, “Send word to my mother, tell my girl that I love her,” Frantic Clam graciously closes out the song just over the two-minute mark avoiding the risk of over-doing a finely crafted rock tune.

“Indiana,” meanwhile, delivers a sadder tune. It wallows in shoegazer and mid-90s indie rock pastiche like a younger brother going through your record collection. But the song avoids being tethered as a “period piece,” and comes off more sublime, reserved, due to the simplicity in the writing and the howling vocal flare-ups in the chorus. “Indiana” is a bittersweet anthem of loss for this generation — perhaps today’s “Fake Plastic Trees”?

Other songs like “Fort Worthless” — an in-your-face danceable number — cites more current indie influences such as Modest Mouse and TV on the Radio. A sloshy downbeat drives this heaving number and high-pitched, octave vocals sing “her blood is on the tracks, it was such an evil act.” “Korean Beauty Queen” is ripe with elements of the same indie pot-pourri, but succeeds as the more uninhibited and honest version of the two — truly Frantic Clam at their best.

As the album closer, the title track plays out like a soul-inspired, freaky love affair where Frantic Clam introduce the character, lady “Anatomica,” in the midst of a spat in the kitchen. Allusion is made to the human body and anatomy of the heart, which gives this song a striking edge of weirdness. Then the Clam does a ‘Hey Jude’ style outro and shuffle out of the album on raw electric guitars and “Sha-na-na-na-na-na-na”.

Aside from this album containing five great songs, Anatomica has the kind of allure that you rarely find. Only one song goes beyond the three-minute mark throughout the whole album, but if you think it’s because Frantic Clam didn’t have enough material to add some meat to their songs — you’d be wrong. The tracks are concise and economical with the music they carry throughout Anatomica, preserving the shelf life of the EP itself as well as the genius of the music. Nothing is overdone or seems contrived — witness to Frantic Clam’s understanding of the music they create. Let’s just hope that they make more in the future.

Websites:
www.franticclam.com
Myspace