The Claudettes Keep It Full Throttle On Piano-Driven ‘High Times in the Dark’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

This may well be a coming-out party for vocalist Berit Ulseth of The Claudettes, a quartet still very much centered on Johnny Iguana’s punk-blues, garage rock piano. High Times in the Dark is the band’s fifth release and by far the best yet. Produced by Grammy-winner Ted Hutt (Violet Femmes, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Devil Makes Three, Lucero), this recording will send echoes from Julie London to Allen Toussaint to garage rockers like the Detroit Cobras and The Black Keys. The band calls it “garage cabaret.” It is steeped in American roots music and will sound much different than most garage rock bands because it’s piano-propelled rather than guitar-driven and because it’s more a mix of blues-jazz-soul with a vocalist that sings rather than shouts. With Iguana aboard though, expect a driving punk-blues spirt as well. Some blues fans may find it odd to find Iguana in this context as he has supported Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Tail Dragger and many other Chicago blues greats.  He also has his own punk organ band, Oh My God.

Another key cog is drummer/keyboardist and co-founder Michael Caskey. Zach Verdoorn handles the bass, guitar, and background vocals. Essentially, they are a piano trio with vocalist Ulseth fronting the band. In one sense the recording is cathartic as the band recovers from tragedies and deaths near at hand. It’s also impossible to ignore the pessimistic mood and divisiveness gripping the country. The Claudettes hold little back, adding humor and a love of playing to reverse the negativity, hence the title.

According to Iguana, producer Hutt made plenty of changes in song lyrics and instrumental choices but feels they were all improvements. The band tracked for 10 days at the studio in Chicago before Hutt and Ryan Mall mixed in L.A., with Ryan A. Smith doing the mastering in Nashville. Hutt’s telling statement rings true, “I think this album is really going to get Berit known. She really tapped into the heart of these songs, and her tone is just the warmest thing you’ll ever hear.” That may be a bit overhyped but not far off.

The wide-ranging themes appear as follows: media-driven fear-mongering (before this coronavirus craze no less) (“Most Accidents Happen”), shameless contempt for the underprivileged (“Grandkids, Wave Bye-Bye”) and yearning glances at a bottle of bourbon (“One Special Bottle”). Humor is found in true stories of past drummers (“You Drummers Keep Breaking My Heart”). Yet it’s the usual subjects of love and romance that carry the day via “Bad Babe, Losin’ Touch,” “24/5,” “Declined,” and “I Swear to God, I Will.”

Some of the best songs come in the album’s second half. In fact, the sequence from track eight, “I Don’t Do That Stuff Anymore” through the accident and drummers’ songs to the closer “The Sun Will Fool You” is exceptionally strong and musically rich. Ulseth’s best vocal is the closer, as she croons over a bed of desolate piano about a cold-hearted lover whom everyone else looks to as a beacon of outgoingness. The animated video for this song took a year to complete and has won Best Music Video at several prestigious film festivals already.

Previous albums from The Claudettes have been a bit too quirky or punkish. Let’s give credit to the band and producer Ted Hutt for smoothing it out and injecting varied musicality into the mix.

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