CLAW HAMMER
"Q:
Are We Not Men? A: We are NOT Devo!" (Sympathy for the Record Industry;
1991 )
Reviewed by R. Scott Bolton
In 1991, Claw Hammer went into the studio and, for whatever reason, recorded Devo's classic "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo?" CD. Interestingly, the band opted to record each song virtually note for note. In fact, the only real difference between the two CDs are a) one is recorded by Devo, the other by Claw Hammer; b) Claw Hammer appear to have recorded each track live and probably in one take; c) Claw Hammer's CD features additional padding (one track at the beginning and two additional tracks at the end).
One has to wonder why Claw Hammer recorded this CD at all. You'd think that -- if they were going to go to the trouble of re-recording an entire Devo CD -- they would have at least put their unique spin on it. Nope. Claw Hammer's "Are We Not Men?" is nearly identical to Devo's.
Still, Claw Hammer's "Are We Not Men?" is indeed fun to listen to, especially with the devil-may-care roughness of the production and performance. Their version has a punk edge that Devo's mechanical classic did not.
Overall, however, this CD is just another novelty. Fun to listen to once, maybe twice, but eventually just gathering dust while it takes up valuable space on your CD shelf.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2005 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights
reserved.
Revised: 14 Oct 2024 14:01:57 -0400.
