The Claudettes’ ‘Garage Glamour’ Is Charming Mix Of Grit & Grace (ALBUM REVIEW)

What began as a rather bizarre concept has fully blossomed, seven chapters in. Arguably, The Claudettes are the only band to successfully meld soul, rock, punk, and cabaret into an intoxicating stew. The juxtaposition of the two words in the title of Garage Glamour sums it up as succinctly as possible. The Claudettes take the raw, unabashed grit of rock n’ roll with a punkish flair, and combine it with a glitzy club vibe and even shady noir songs, seemingly right out of a soundtrack. In fact, Johnny Iguana, the band’s composer/pianist (more on him later), is the co-composer of the original score of the Emmy-winning FX/Hulu series The Bear. His co-creator of that score, JQ, joined him to produce two tracks on this album, and Grammy-winning producer Steve Berkowitz (Iguana’s uncle, no less) is also the co-producer of Garage Glamour. Previous albums have featured vocalist Berit Ulseth, but this is the first to feature powerhouse vocalist Rachel Williams, who has been singing live with the band since 2023.

Yet, Williams is willing to share the spotlight with John Primer on the opening “(You Are My) Whole World,” a Chicago song inspired by The Chi-Lites’ “Oh Girl.” Most know Muddy Waters alumnus Primer as a traditional blues guitarist and singer, but his professed love for soul music is on display here. Williams sings with a mix of melancholy and disdain in the breakup song, “Winter Came While You Were Gone,” powered by Iguana’s incisive ‘60s-like organ chords and the sturdy bass-drum tandem. Vintage rockabilly appears on “Whirlpool,” a take on the classic Wanda Jackson B-side, with boisterous piano and guitar. Williams’ use of reverb on her vocal evokes Neko Case’s approach.

Williams bemoans her lustful failure in the stomping “No Matter How Much,” imbued by a prog-rock rollicking sequence, as she blames it all on 100-proof Kentucky bourbon. Here’s the clever last stanza: “I’m stuck alone, so damn alone and unlucky/Shame on you, Kentucky!” Her romantic desires are also doomed in “Touch You Back,” where her anything but subtle gestures fail to register with her partner in the post-punk rocker “Touch You Back,” rendered in a tight, funky groove and highlighted by guest guitar from Ella Feingold (Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Silk Sonic). JQ produced both tunes.

Sandwiched in between the above are rock opera and cinematic fare. While often drawn to a throwback aspect, Iguana’s not immune to present-day subjects. The real-life war of wills between Jeff Bezos and David Pecker is the subject of “Mr. Pecker’s Apoplexy.” Iguana hauls out a stunning array of keyboards and synths in support. The pounding “That Could Be Arranged” describes a chilling heist that wasn’t meant to be, while “The Aftermath” gets even darker with the narrator seemingly questioning from the grave, “Are they still looking for me?”

Williams sings at an impressive, blinding pace in “Don’t Give It Up to the Thieves,” perhaps a modern-day commentary on curbing the urge for revenge and feeling downtrodden. Instead, she urges a return to more innocent times. That tune bleeds seamlessly into the majestic, chord-driven “There Is No Other Side, which debunks the ‘two sides to every story’ with the lines “Heaven, hell, and are are built on lies. There is no other side.”

In a little over thirty minutes, The Claudettes unfurl a potpourri of musical styles and subjects. It’s a lot to take in, but the overriding message may well be ‘throw caution to the wind.”