A World Without End by Clipd Beaks is like a veil that has been placed over your head while the band’s sonic drudge repeatedly thud you with each muffled peck.
You should be glad the beaks are indeed no longer lethal from Scott, Nick, and Ray of Clipd Beaks. They created a sonic tar of emotional soundscapes in 2010 with their latest full-length album, To Realize. Their latest release, A World Without End, is the album’s companion of b-sides, demos, and outtakes released by the band in collaboration with Slanty Shanty Records and is strictly limited to 100 copies.
Formed in 2003 in Minnesota, Clipd Beaks is now a Californian three piece, gorgeously trudging through the atmospheric apocalypse. They incorporate drone, atmospheres, tribal rhythms, and post-punk beats into a unique amalgam that has never surfaced on your local radio station – but that is OK, because that is where we do not want them.
Like a soundtrack to a cult movie (Eraserhead or Apocalypse Now comes to mind) Clipd Beaks weave in and out of the surreal and force us to question our own reality. A World Without End is no different. Songs like “Alien” and “New Strangler” demand urgency and pick up where Ian Curtis and crew left off. “Epic Blues” is almost tribal, pulsating to a Throbbing Gristle-type fear. One could get lost in the emotional labyrinth that “In Love” creates. “Murder Boat”, which is an early version of “Home” (off of To Realize) is ripe, raw, and powerful (it made me wish I could have lost my virginity to it). And songs like “Foam Henge” leave a mysterious unanswered question lingering, like a David Lynch film, but you are satisfied more because of it.
Clipd Beaks are a true band…they don’t fit in anywhere. This compilation is an action, not a reaction. The physical format alone demands attention…I had to sit in my car in the garage to listen to it (the only cassette player I still have). A World Without End opens another door in understanding and appreciating To Realize. It is a psychedelic Joy Division daydream, and as the liner notes artwork indicates, up somewhere in the atmosphere. So, wipe the tar outta your ears, put the little circular Band Aids on those peck marks, and make room on your music shelf…2” by 4” to be exact.
-Chris Koenig
