Album: Redshift/BlueshiftLabel: Team Grizzly Records
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Remember when Bob Dylan shook up the folk music world by playing electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965? Enter Clock Hands Strangle to shake it up one more time. The progressive folk quintet from Orlando, Florida, tears apart the genre and puts it back together in a wholly new way, adding classical instrumentation (trombone, timpani, glockenspiel) to modern electric guitar and keyboards.
Clock Hands Strangle - "White Blazes"
What is most striking about this group is not just the lyrics (scientifically detailed poems written by vocalist, Todd Portnowitz) and not just the musicianship of each of the five talented members, but the overall sound.
The unique combination of instruments, the deep, reverberating frequencies of the bass and drums, and the crispness of the acoustic guitar paired with the fullness of the electric guitar create an album that is both rooted within the folk tradition and simultaneously branching out into the unexplored. Think of their debut full-length, "Redshift/Blueshift" (Team Grizzly), as a revisiting of traditional folk without mere imitation, and an experiment of genre without complete departure from it. And the experiment has certainly been a success.
From 2004 to 2006, Clock Hands Strangle toured three consecutive summers, thoroughly covering the eastern half of the US before being picked up by Florida-based label, Team Grizzly. After the mid-2007 release of Redshift/Blueshift, the album has been reviewed by several magazines and indie blogs (Midwest Record, Amplifier, Indie Rock Reviews, For The Sound, Pastepunk.com, Music Emissions, and myriad more) and the band has been interviewed by several other sources (Big Smile Magazine, Skyline Press).
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Like this Band? You may also like: The Postal Service, Deathcab For Cutie, Iron and Wine
