Clockwise
Feb 2004

You can read the full writeup on my head-banging night in Vegas with Drawing Boxes and Clockwise here ... and, if you ever find yourself in a sushi bar with Austin (Clockwise frontman) be sure to order him up a big batch of sweet Ebi shrimp -- complete with fried shrimp heads!

He just can't get enough o dem shrimp eyes!!

Seriously, even though their deal with RCA is no more the boys in Clockwise are still out there fightin' and playin' their hearts out. But, you'll have to keep your eyes peeled and move fast if you want to catch 'em live ... Clockwise ain't about to be overexposed like a lot of indie bands on the scene ... so that means when you hear about a show - YOU GO!

And, don't kid yourself ... this ain't no college-dorm-wanna-be-punk-rockers-to-piss-off-my-dad poser band! Clockwise satisfies with their genuine blend of funky pop-a-delic rock that could have only erupted from the bright lights of Vegas. Bring an extra pair of tightey whitey's (pun intended) when you come to a show ... cause Austin and the boys will blast your shorts off!

Until then, enjoy this writeup posted on wazee in Aug 2002...

Listening to Clockwise's self-titled RCA debut, the adage that a person's voice acts as a second face comes to mind. It doesn't seem possible that such a deep, soulful bellow could emanate from a whippet-thin rock frontman with a chameleon's taste in hairstyles. But seeing is believing. Almost.

"When we play a new city, people just stare at him in awe," says bassist Alfonso Bernal. "They can't believe this big voice is coming out of this skinny young guy."

As a whole, Clockwise also shatters expectations. The band's members are Las Vegas natives, for one, and Sin City's small music scene doesn't normally win national attention. Still, growing up in the town's warren of planned communities--just west of the glitz, gambling and girls, girls, girls--shaped the band in at least two significant ways that helped them move beyond Vegas.

First, the plastic culture brought out the opposite in the childhood friends--a substance evident in Austin's of-the-moment lyrics and his bandmates' timeless guitar-bass-drums dynamic. "We went for a muscular, melodic sound, with solid grooves throughout," says drummer Dave McMahan of the band's debut.

And secondly, Glitter Gulch's countless over-the-top attractions forced Clockwise to crank up the voltage just to compete. "In Vegas, if you don't play at volume 10, and if you're not just raging, people don't pay attention," says Austin. "There's just way too much else to do in town. So if you're not larger-than-life, louder-than-hell and power-packed, you're not going to draw a crowd."

With that approach, and a growing catalog of hook-filled numbers, Clockwise wound up "snagging anyone who would step into a shitty Vegas bar to watch a band," according to the singer. But like many of rock's classic line-ups, the group initially comprised "the rejects that no other bands wanted," Alfonso admits with a laugh. "But we always took the band very seriously."

The former rejects began packing local clubs, eventually attracting label interest, as well. When the froth finally settled in the wake of a signing frenzy, the band had aligned with RCA, whose Steve Ferrara recognized a solid, inventive band, and rare charismatic frontman in Austin. Working intensely with producer-on-the-rise Dan Brodbeck (Headstrong), the band set out to create an album that commands your attention from first track to last.

"Each song depicts a point in time for us," says Alfonso, who recalls a time when Austin was wanted for reasons other than his music. "Austin was a skinny kid with a big mouth, and it always got him into trouble," he says. "He always had masses of people who wanted to get him. In high school, he even had the skinheads after him--and these were guys who would flip over your car in the parking lot, or throw a brick at your head."

Such experiences translate in the aggression of songs like "Lay Her Down" and "Southern Drawl," but they're always contrasted by a reflective side, evident in the songs' choruses, particularly on “Who Deserted Who?”

"Most of the album is me bitching," admits Austin. "It's pretty critical, just because the negative somehow makes for better conversation--and it seems more real. But most of the songs actually resolve on a positive note."