Though their name has always put me off (I hate worms!!) Cut Worms (actually just Brooklyn-based musician Max Clarke) makes music that should be right up the alley of people who enjoy the golden age of pop music. It’s all homemade attempts to sound like the faded hits of yesterday, the track I’m listening to sounds like The Beach Boys in ballad mode for God’s sake. Truly lovely. This should help summer along nicely. The car windows are down, the air is warm, and the possibilities are boundless. On Cut Worms, the new self-titled album from Brooklyn-based Max Clarke, the singer-songwriter and musician continues his exploration of what he calls “pop essentialism”. Mining the golden hits of yesteryear for a timeless double A-side sound, he contemplates age-old questions through a modern lens.
“Ballad of the Texas King” by Cut Worms from the upcoming album ‘Cut Worms’, out July 21st on Jagjaguwar.
Here, he leaves behind the legendary studio and sought-after producers for a more homegrown approach, working with a cast of gifted friends and collaborators. The result is a compact collection of daydream anthems that live between the summer’s hopeful beginnings and the season’s fleeting end.
Clarke varied his methods. Three of the songs were cut from start to finish in his shared rehearsal space. “Don’t Fade Out” and “Living Inside” were recorded in Brooklyn by Brian and Michael D’Addario of the Lemon Twigs, who also played piano and bass, respectively, on these two songs. Further basic tracking was done by Rick Spataro (of indie folk band Florist) at his Hudson Valley studio,
Onlyness Analog, with contributions from the long standing Cut Worms live band–keyboardist John Andrews, bassist Keven Louis Lareau, and drummer Noah Bond (who played on all three sessions).
the upcoming album ‘Cut Worms’, out July 21st on Jagjaguwar Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 