Clutch is a musical group from Germantown, Maryland in the United States. They have been playing together since the early 1990s, producing records at a rate of approximately one per year.
Though each of Clutch's albums is marked by its own distinct and cohesive sound, the band's musical style may be said to have migrated from hardcore punk to hard rock and blues over the course of their career. Clutch's lyrics, at first angry and serious in tone, had by the time of 1993's Transnational Speedway League become characterized by intelligence, wordplay, and often humor (although comedy is not usually the focus). Their songs make frequent reference to history, mythology, popular culture, and religion—for example, "I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth", from their self-titled album, tells the story of a fisherman who discovers the corpse of Lincoln's assassin in the Susquehanna River, and Jam Room's "Release the Kraken" inserts a hero called "Useless the Younger" into the Greek myth. It also uses in the song Immortal "Who's the man who stole fire for the people?" reffering to Prometheus.
Despite having signed with major record labels in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Clutch has not pushed for mainstream popularity, and their songs rarely receive airtime on commercial radio or music television. Instead they have accumulated a devoted cult following. This following has been cultivated by an ambitious touring schedule as Clutch has often performed more than 100 shows per year since their formation.
Clutch fans sometimes refer to themselves as gearheads, likely in reference to the fact that a clutch is an engine component.