Clem Snide

Of creatures great and small, Clem Snide are content to sing of the small ones. To them, the rock 'n' roll drive to be harder, faster, and louder is just another leg of a big rat race they refuse to run. This band believes that nothing worth doing is worth doing in a hurry. Made of listing guitars, yawning strings, and wafting percussion, their melodies creep along like water-wading somnambulists. Zooming in on life's minutiae, Eef Barzelay's lyrics show that "the Truth" is not "out there" -- it's right under your nose. Even the song titles ("Bread," "Exercise," "Fruit Salad Stains") indicate this band's attention to the fact that most mundane objects crackle with significance when viewed in the right light. Alt Country fans will hear echoes of Palace. Unlike Will Oldham, however, this band thinks in narratives and doesn't premise its entire artistic project on sounding pessimistic.