Track By Tracks: Acid Claw - Silly Heart (2022)

1. Cabbage:

I wanted something exciting and catchy as an opener for the album, I had written the “surf rock” riff about 20 years ago and the lyrics in 2019, the rest of the song fell into place. I think the song suits our sound perfectly; fun, interesting and not sticking to any one style.

2. Silly Heart:

The title track off our album, this track was written in about 20 minutes, I wanted something fast, dynamic and to the point but also bouncy. There aren’t any repeating riffs, a chorus, or verses. It's straight to the point, a journey from start to finish.

3. Odious Clump:

A song I had written in 2018, it's theatrical, silly, and tells a story. We had a lot of fun in the studio recording this one. Adding extra instruments and evolving the ending, which is my favorite bit, absolute carnage, a nightmare, a surreal trip to the circus. This track really blends styles and is a lot of fun to play. I think Spoonie our other guitarist got a kick out of playing the slide whistle, I know we all did when he recorded it in the studio.

4. Whizz Pop:

The foundations of this track were written by our bass player Noel, he sent over the riffs to me, and I constructed the track that you hear on the album. High octane, punchy, and no messing about, it’s also our first track on the album to mix up time signatures and tempos. The ending complements the track perfectly, with the saxophone and organ coming to the front of the mix.

5. Guttersnipe:

We take a more “serious” turn with Guttersnipe, an atmospheric Post Rock/Metal track, complete with a crescendo and wailing guitar. This was originally going to be the album opener but decided to have this as a build-up for the next track.

6. Major Fomo:

This track is akin to a concept album condensed into one track, it’s a story, a journey from start to finish. I had been reading The Lord of the Rings and had an idea about a Hobbit that was left behind from the fellowship and went on his own adventure, falling in love with a tree. It has ups and downs, twists and turns, and is very rich in sound.

7. Absolution:

I had written the music for this track but not specifically for ACiD CLAW, I approached a good friend Skinny Pete about doing vocals on this track, I gave him the idea about the theme for the album “Silly Heart” and he wrote the lyrics and it fit perfectly with the albums overall theme, so I thought let's add this to “Silly Heart”.

8. Static the Dog:

I wrote the foundations of this track in 2018, I wanted to create another song that was a story, and had a theme and protagonist. Something fun but with a slightly darker twist, and lots of experimentation with sound and instruments. Our keyboard player T Money also did the speaking parts on the song, it was a lot of fun recording this one in the studio. I really love the saxophone solo part near the end, I wrote it on the piano and our saxophonist Ailsa really brought it to life.

9. This Psychopath Needs a Hug:

This was the first “official” song I wrote for “Silly Heart”. I was listening to a lot of Black Metal, and it inspired me to write something with blast beats, I knew Paul our drummer would appreciate it. Once again, the track has a theatrical element to it with the vocals and subject matter of the lyrics, it’s a song we all love to play live, and the ending was a nice twist and suits our style of genre blending.

10. Memory Hole:

Our final track, it had to be all or nothing! Fast-paced, interesting, and fun! The ending of course had to be epic and long-lasting, the lyrics are slightly cryptic, but all represent something to me. I feel this is a great track to end the album with.