Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Max Clarke, better known by his nom de plume Cut Worms, has already released two critically acclaimed albums. His debut album, Hollow Ground, was released in 2018 and the follow-up double album Nobody Lives Here Anymore came out in 2020. Clarke’s third release is the self-titled Cut Worms and relies heavily on the the sounds of the fifties and sixties.
After the release of a double album, Clarke decided to go for brevity on his third release. Asking himself “How much can I say and give in a limited amount of time?” This approach led him to take his time recording, spending time recording the songs at multiple locations with multiple collaborators including Brian and Michael D’Addario of Lemon Twigs, Rick Spataro of Florist and his live band consisting of keyboardist John Andrews, bassist Keven Louis Lareau, and drummer Noah Bond. This approach has resulted in an album free of fluff and full of inspired music.
The album opens with the track “Don’t Fade Out” and instantly transports the listener to the sounds of yesteryear. The overall sound is reminiscent of Carole King, James Taylor and Gerry Rafferty with its driving keyboard and synth riffs paired with a lightly driving drum beat. “Take it and Smile” incorporates reverb snare hits and deliberately slow guitar riffs that bring to mind doo-wop groups like The Supremes and The Temptations. On “Ballad of the Texas King,” Clarke sings about how life will inevitably change over the years as he plays in the style of The Kinks with a twinge of country. “I’ll Never Make It” and “Living Inside” bring to mind scenes of going to a sock-hop or sitting in a Chevy Bel Air with your best gal/guy listening to Buddy Holly on the radio. The use of sleigh bells, slow reverb drums, horns and staccato guitar strums on “Use Your Love! (Right Now)” instantly has the listener thinking that they might be listening to a B-side from Pet Sounds.
Leaning heavily on influences from the past, Clarke has created something that sound both new and old at the same time. Even the album cover that shows Clarke with his guitar held up to his chest brings to mind Buddy Holly. With bright sounding tracks that mostly clock in at the three-minute mark, Cut Worms is an album that easily lends itself to repeat listening. Each listen reveals more layers in each song, the first listen might sound like The Beach Boys and the second listen maybe sounds like Donovan, and by the third it just sounds like Max Clarke. Yet it’s entirely original the whole time and perhaps one of the best albums to be released so far this year.
