Best Local Rock Act

Clutch Grabwell

Last year's Best Music Poll coverboys retain their title for Best Local Rock Act. Though they're not a true Worcester-based outfit, Clutch have made the Worm their second home -- just ask clubland. Having worked their way up the circuit, playing alongside ignoble and lesser cover bands, the Grabwells have rapidly become major players in their own right -- eventually ditching a large portion of "Mustang Sally" rehash for their own high-octane, R&B workouts. Driven by the three-chord axioms of Super Rock Power -- horn driven choruses, fat-ass guitar licks, and heavy-duty backbeat -- Clutch tie together the whole rock/pop/metal/soul/funk sideshow in the persona of vocalist John Boyle. Somewhere between a circus barker, a street-corner preacher, and an escapee from the short bus, Boyle is the focal point from which the electricity and grit of the band collect and emanate. Climbing the sound stack, leaping off the stage, dousing himself in beer to keep from completely burning up on the power, Boyle is Iggy Pop wired to the gills on Kool Aid, Sweet Tarts, and Pixie Sticks. Their aces disc How Ya Gonna Be has perked the ears of two major-label record companies, so it's only a matter of time before Clutch shake it on a national level. No matter how that turns out, Wormtown will always welcome them home.

-- John O'Neill