#23 on the 2009 Musical Advent Calendar

I’m always a bit surprised to find that Clem Snide has never really taken off. Back in their heyday, the four men that made up the band would come out on stage in matching Nudie-inspired outfits, and it was always a sight to behold. Those outfits, mixed with their version of countrified rock and punny lyrics made for quite an enjoyable show-going experience. The live sound the band produced was quite true to the recorded versions of their songs, but for some reason they never exploded as I always felt they should.

The song above, “The Endless Endings” is from the excellent Hungry Bird. Word has it, direct from lead singer Eef Barzalay’s mouth, that he and the lead guitarist had a falling out after the release of their previous album, and Hungry Bird was the album that should never be. Eef has tried a couple times to go solo, to no avail. So when he was feeling especially low (always a good recipe for great music) in 2005, he got the other two remaining members of the band back together to record. And then the record sat around, for four years, ripening.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a suitable video for this album, so I can only offer up an MP3. (I try to avoid fan-created videos and other YouTube detritus because of their low quality. If I can’t find a video that was produced by the band, I don’t post one.)

The three remaining members of Clem Snide actually went on a low-key tour, sans Nudie outfits, to promote Hungry Bird. But they never did any other type of promotion for it that I can find. No videos, barely any interviews. As if they were hoping the album would fail. But in one of the few interviews I did read with Eef earlier this year, he sounded pretty optimistic that this could be the time for Clem Snide. Now that it’s the end of the year, and it’s quite difficult to find anything out about the band and what it’s currently doing, I’m loathe to say that it appears that the optimism has died.

Fingers crossed that I’m wrong.

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24. Actor by St. Vincent
25. Elvis Perkins in Dearland by Elvis Perkins in Dearland
26. XX by the XX
27. Grrr… by Bishop Allen
28. Keep It Hid by Dan Auerbach
29. It’s Blitz! by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
30. Beware by Bonnie “Prince” Billie
31. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear