Orange Claw Hammer

Another late in the day instagram accidental encounter. Orange Claw Hammer are not a Beefheart tribute band, so they say. I'm inclined to believe that. They played at the Green Hotel Kinross the other week but I was unaware of this or the band. I was an early convert to CB and remained faithful for a few years and then took to planetary drifting ... certainly the pre-punk clean tones and predictable structures of early 70s pop and even progressive rock needed a good undermining and CB and Zappa provided that, and a healthy or maybe unhealthy dose of sneering and, for the fans, jazz rock snobbery and all the mental illness that goes with it (later in life). 

It's a situation that still exists, certainly inside my scrappy head. Being the double minded chap I am, I can see the appeal on either side of easy and tricky music but I do think that it would crazy, fascinating and wonderfully dangerous to play this music live. Step away from the pentatonic scales and shapes for a bit. On the downside maybe too many breaks and peculiar timings to remember to cope with, but then how do you even recognize mistakes in the free flow of free form? Good luck to the Claw Hammer's endeavours. Set list below. They don't use titles like those anymore ...