I’ve never wondered what the New York Dolls would have sounded like if they were sun-stroked So-Cal surfers, but if I ever had, The Clap would have been the answer to that query. Sing Sing Records (once again, putting on the sizzle with a flashy re-ish) has dug up the legendary “lost” Clap record, originally released to immediate obscurity in 1973. I had only heard second hand mumblings on coolness of this LP over the years, and now having heard it, I can say that it’s pretty fucking radical, dude.
Although there’s a certain lo-fi malaise that permeates the album’s ten tracks, it doesn’t interfere with the quality of the tunes, and can likely be chalked up to a shitty studio and even shittier engineer. Slow strutters like, “Middle Of The Road”, carry a snotty Stones charm, while darker rockers such as the opening, “Out Of The Shadows”, and later, “Get It While You Can” are smoky puffs of Alice Cooper pageantry with a healthy dose of juvenile delinquency to up the ante.
What comes across most clearly is the time and place of the songs. Which isn’t to say that it sounds dated, just that it’s hard to envision Have You Reached Yet? being the product of anyone but Cali burnouts from the mid-70’s.
A prime example of proto-punk, this LP nods towards the eventual change in underground rock n’ roll. (singer Steve Morrison’s vocals are uncannily similar to a Born Innocent-era Jeff McDonald – or should I say that the other way around?) It’s the perfect addition to the completist’s library, not to mention several hundred dollars cheaper than scarcer-than-hens’-pubes original. Sing Sing gets a round of applause!
Check out a clip of The Clap's "Have You Reached Yet?" title track off the LP right here:
