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Montreal garage rock ’n’ rollers Demon’s Claws have hardly had any time to take up space on local bar stools lately, and their new compilation of odds and sods, Lost in the Desert Volume One, is a perfect reflection of that. Sonically, it’s a patchy mongrel, with songs spanning their career and recorded in such varied locales as Detroit, Los Angeles, Hamburg and here in Montreal. As unbalanced as things get though, there’s a common thread in their sense of pure lysergic chaos shining through at all times. “Actually, I’m pretty excited to finally hear the new record,” says guitarist/singer Heavy J, “because I haven’t actually heard a lot of the finished versions of the songs. I guess it’s stuff that wasn’t good enough for our other two records but it should be pretty representative of us.” If it seems that Heavy J is a little nonplussed about the assembly of their new record, it’s because he’s currently chomping at the bit to be recording their fourth release. After getting legendary underground label In the Red to release their 2007 sophomore record, Satan’s Little Pig, Demon’s Claws have clocked in the clicks on the road and played any shithole that would have them. “We’re trying to actually be a little bit more responsible when we go out on the road now, because before, we would just jump in the van and go. With three members of the band now having kids, we really have to think it through a bit more. We’ve starved and haven’t been able to pay for gas, but I think those early tours are what really turned us into a band and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.” This newly paternal version of Demon’s Claws is likely to sound rather staid to anybody who has seen the chaos of their live show, a rep that continues to cling tightly to their name. “I admit we have been banned from New York’s Bowery Ballroom and been kicked out of bars, but I think our reputation has been blown out of proportion. We somehow have this rep of being drugged-out freaks. People are usually shocked that we’re pretty relaxed people—but I guess sometimes we’re probably jerks.” WITH NOBUNNY, THE SMITH WESTERNS |
