Clowns

Does It Matter?/Sarah [7-inch] (2021)

Ricky Frankel

One of the absolute best albums to come out in 2019 was Clowns’ Nature/Nurture. It was quite the leap from their previous and more experimental album, Lucid Again. Nature/Nurture flows wonderfully, the lyrics are confrontational and vulnerable, the musicianship brings in elements of hardcore, metal, and pop-punk, but most of all it’s a pretty dark album. So after an accomplishment like this, where does a band like Clowns take their sound? Well they go brighter, of course. And that’s exactly what they did with the Does It Matter?/Sarah 7-inch.

“Does It Matter?” is a light hearted song about cheerfully committing crime. The lead guitar riff starts things off on a very shiny note. Lead vocalist Stevie Williams’ vocals are much higher than previously released songs. During the chorus Williams and bassist Hanny J trade off singing. For example, Williams sings, “So, if I light this bottle’s end,” Hanny J follows with “Does it matter?” And of course, the gem of this song and really, this whole release is this song’s guitar solo. It starts during the final choruses and then acts the outro. Guitarist Jarrod Goon just shreds through the rest of the song with crazy-fast pull offs and massive bends. It’s truly impressive.

The B-side track “Sarah” is a little bit more aggressive and heavier sounding. Clowns’ more metal influence makes an appearance pretty early on in the song. While Williams sings one guitar plays the high-treble main riff and the other plays these echo-y bends during the verses. The chorus is where Williams’ vocals really shine. Especially, towards the end of the track he is able hit such a high pitch with his yelling. And lyrically, the band has some fun with some word play; are they talking about a person named Sarah or the chemical serotonin?

Listen, I’m no film or acting expert, but in my opinion a great actor can do drama and comedy equally well. There are a lot of things that make Clowns a fantastic band, but the fact that they can write amazing dark songs and equally great bright songs is one of them. There’s no question that Does It Matter?/Sarah was one of the best 7-inches to come out in 2021.

You can listen to this release here.