The Bakerton Group: El Rojo

The Bakerton Group is the result of Clutch jamming without Neil Fallon on vocals. And that’s exactly what the Bakerton Group sounds like. The bluesy shuffle with its thick guitars, swaggering rhythm and swirling keyboards (courtesy of Opeth’s Per Wiberg) would not have sounded out of place on the last Clutch album — From Beale Street to Oblivion. Even the songtitles like “Chancellor”, “Peruvian Airspace” and “Bill Proger’s Galaxy” sound decidedly Clutch-y. While Fallon joins his cohorts on guitar he stays far away from the Microphone (except on “Work ‘Em” where you can hear just him holler from the back of the room). While the songs stand up without the aid of Fallon’s gravelly sermons, they just don’t pack the same wallop. Wait for the new Clutch, it’s just around the corner.