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Artist
Sex Clark Five
12+ albums
power popindie popindieindie rockjangle pop
about
Sex Clark Five is a prolific underground indie rock band that began in the early 1980s in Huntsville, Alabama. Calling their inventive sawed-off pop songs "strum and drum" (a pun for sturm und drang), SC5 released several albums that featured a jangly guitar style that became somewhat of a musical trend several years afterwards. Guitarists James Butler, Rick Storey and drummer Trick McKaha were all friends from Huntsville High School. After stints in Kinks cover and pseudo punk bands, the three recruited bassist Joy Johnson. Primary singer/songwriter Butler built quirky, catchy melodic hooks around lyrics that often included offbeat European historical references, and wrapped them around rapidly strummed guitars and rave up surf guitar riffs. Politically charged tunes such as "Liberate Tibet" and "Sarajevo" were called prophetic by some critics. In spite of this the band's songs were often filled with wry, outlandish humor. SC5 would count both Goethe and the Marx Brothers as musical influences. The band came to the attention of BBC radio legend John Peel when he was given a copy of their debut 45 release, "Neita Grew Up Last Night." After playing the disc on his show repeatedly Peel asked the band to send more. SC5 recorded their first full length album "Strum and Drum" in 1986 in Butler's family basement. "Strum and Drum" became an underground favorite of 1987 and the band earned critical success, extensive college radio airplay and a small but devoted following. Some con
