Demon's Claws

The Demon's Claws are one of the many bands to emerge from Montreal's thriving garage punk underground, playing a gritty mixture of folk-rock, country, and blues that's won them comparisons to <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">the Rolling Stones</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5U16QlMnlSAhkQxBZpLyLO">the Pretty Things</a>, as well as punk-blues pioneers <a href="spotify:artist:3Un18X4NF1bpjgUk44lUzn">the Gun Club</a>. (The Demon's Claws have been given the seal of approval by the folks at <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Norton+Records%22">Norton Records</a>, who released their cover of "Factory Girl" as part of their series of split singles of classic <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">Rolling Stones</a> tunes.) The Demon's Claws was founded in 2003 by Jeff Clarke (aka Lester Del Ray and Rudy Stanko), a former member of <a href="spotify:artist:1zqw7D7c0p2IJXJ5cPrMHU">the Cut Offs</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6H1yWff1QBh4tW26LFdBKP">the Normals</a>, taking the group name from a sharply turned piece of track that came with a toy racing car set he owned as a child. Also featuring <a href="spotify:artist:6OTbfk4FRMV8b11Q5dhJZR">Pat Meteor</a> on guitar, Ysael Pepin (aka Le Lutin) on bass, and Serge Gendron (aka <a href="spotify:artist:3IQopI51csm5f4AVbij4aJ">Skip Jensen</a>) on drums, the Demon's Claws released their first single in 2005 for the German <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22P.+Trash%22">P. Trash</a> label, with a self-titled full-length album appearing on the same imprint later that year. The New Zealand-based Perpetrator Records issued the band's next single, and in 2006, Serge Gendron left the band, with B-Man Le Duke taking over on drums; they same year they also added a keyboard player, Piero Ilov. The band toured Canada frequently and made occasional trips to the United States, where they formed a mutual appreciation society with manic Atlanta garage punks <a href="spotify:artist:35C0NSLogAwImm8HAMqEmG">the Black Lips</a>, who took the band on road as an opening act and shared the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Norton+Records%22">Norton Records</a> <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">Stones</a> tribute 7" with them. Along with a single for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rob%27s+House+Records%22">Rob's House Records</a>, the Demon's Claws released their second full-length album in 2007, Satan's Little Pet Pig, which was distributed by the noted garage punk outfit <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22In+the+Red+Records%22">In the Red Records</a>. After a long gap, their next album The Defrosting Of appeared in October of 2010. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi