Lazarus Clamp

Infobox musical artist
Name = Lazarus Clamp


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Background =
Origin = Leicester, England
Genre = Punk
Years_active = 1994 – present
Label = Midlands Labels
Members =

Lazarus Clamp [ [http://www.lazarusclamp.co.uk Lazarus Clamp ] ] are an English band of some longevity and interest, who can make a reasonable claim to being one of the minor, undiscovered, roughcut gems of British independent music - but who probably have only themselves to blame for their low profile. [ [http://www.robotsandelectronicbrains.co.uk/interviews/postcard/lazarus.html Lazarus Clamp ] ] Formed in Leicester in 1994, the band's early intensity (angular, noisy, post-hardcore influences were the most evident at this point) and musical ambition (often undermined by a semi-notorious degree of equipment failure and breakdown), earned them a combination of admiration, sympathy, and disdain on the Midlands scene. An easy-going DIY ethic has made them popular with soundmen, fanzines and fellow musicians, but largely invisible to promoters, labels and the press.

Midlands labels - Bearos [http://www.bearos.co.uk/] and Sorted [ http://www.jobhosle.f2s.com/sorted/index.htm ] - provided early support, though the band's most fruitful relationship seems to have been with the now-defunct Guildford label, [ [http://www.forcedexposure.com/labels/words.and.works.rejected.uk.html Browse by Label: WORDS AND WORKS REJECTED (UK) ] ] Words and Works Rejected. A number of fellow travellers and collaborators (Bob Tilton, John Sims, Los Planetos Del Agua, MJ Hibbett, Last Harbour, Half Seas Over, Twinkie, The Freed Unit) have been familiar entries on the band's infrequent live itineries.

As the band developed (and relaxed a little), and the line-up changed and then settled, Lazarus Clamp began to allow other influences to show through - English folk music, American country, and some rather deadpan humour - and became all the better for it. By the time their debut single emerged (Sea Sore Songs [ [http://www.robotsandelectronicbrains.co.uk/reviews/archive/july99.html Robots & Electronic Brains - eclectic music zine ] ] ) in the late 1990s, it was already a historical artefact, both in terms of the band's sound and the post-rock scene that had supported it. Subsequent singles (North, [ [http://www.normanrecords.com/whiskey/index.php?release=celinewhiskey Jonathon Whiskey: homepage ] ] Left-handed, [ [http://www.splendidezine.com/departments/ten/27-mar-00.html Splendid E-zine: Departments: Ten: 27 March 2000 ] ] Some Rivals [ [http://www.blissaquamarine.net/singlereviews24b.html Bliss/Aquamarine - Alternative, Underground And Indie Music ] ] ) and the band's first two LPs (Such as you are and still not seeming to mind. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A1002583 BBC - collective - Lazarus Clamp Lp-the more we are the funnier it is Lp ] ] "The more we are the funnier it is" provides a better snapshot of Lazarus Clamp's literate, spontaneous, scruffy, and very English, take on their ragbag of influences. [ [http://www.popnews.com/popnews/lazarusclamp/ LAZARUS CLAMP - The More We Are The Funnier It Is -album- POPNEWS JANVIER 2002 ] ] These releases are a beguiling, and sometimes frustrating, combination of precisely-executed, off-beat 'alt-pop/unrock,'peppered with lo-fi home recordings, and off-the-cuff improvised meanderings. The band's willingness to fall on their faces, and their musical and verbal articulacy when they pull things together, are probably their greatest virtues.

Never prolific in their live outings, Lazarus Clamp are still active and recording, but have been dispersed across the UK, and, as a result, their live appearances have become even more rare. Gig-goers have been more likely to spot them in one of their solo [www.myspace.com/elclamp] outings or side-projects (moonlighting in Last Harbour, MJHibbett and the Validators, Mines) in the last few years. There has been evidence of a return to form with two small, but rapturously-received [ [http://www.drownedinsound.com/event/view/17479?type=user Drowned in Sound - Listings - Events - Lazarus Clamp, MJ Hibbett and the Validators ] ] appearances in Birmingham [ [http://www.myspace.com/lazarusclamp MySpace.com - Lazarus Clamp - Birmingham, London - www.myspace.com/lazarusclamp ] ] and London in 2006, [ [http://www.windmillbrixton.co.uk/Months/2006JulyA.html July 2006 ] ] and the band's website promises new recordings for release in the near future.

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