This Friday, May 31st, the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection will have two opportunities to see Oakland-based garage punk quartet Shannon & The Clams, who will be playing this week’s WXPN Free At Noon at World Café Live, before they play a full-length headlining set that night at Union Transfer. The band are currently touring behind their seventh studio LP, The Moon Is In The Wrong Place, which dropped May 10th courtesy of producer Dan Auerbach’s (The Black Keys) Easy Eye Sound, their home since 2018’s Onion. The album comes in the wake of the death of Joe Haener, fiancé of frontwoman Shannon Shaw, who passed in a car accident just weeks prior to their wedding.
Nearly all of the tracks on The Moon Is In The Wrong Place were directly inspired by Shaw and her band’s relationship with Haener. The morose psychedelic lead single and title track (which could easily see the band on tour alongside Beyond the Valley of the Dolls’ Carrie Nations) was inspired by Haener asking Shaw about astrology shortly before his passing, wondering if Mercury was in retrograde. “Bean Fields,” the album’s most upbeat number, is an ode to Haener’s farm, the site of his tragic accident, but also the band’s pilgrimage to reminisce about the beauty Haener brought to their lives. Dreamy retro ballad “Real Or Magic” narrates a vision Shaw had of Haener after his passing, leaving her to momentarily ponder the truth.
The Moon Is In The Wrong Place’s fourth and most recent single, “Big Wheel,” dropped earlier this month. The song is one of several tracks that sees guitarist Cody Blanchard, who penned the tune, taking lead vocal duties. “Big Wheel” grapples with the passing of time (and all of its crimes) and the world’s refusal to stop spinning, despite your own profound personal loss. The single came accompanied by a music video by Vanessa Pla, who also directed the videos for “Bean Fields” and “Real or Magic.”
As of right now, there are still spots open for Shannon & The Clams’ Free At Noon this Friday at World Café Live, so register for yours while you can for an extra special Friday lunch break. And, if you’re a fan, get your tickets for the full show that night at Union Transfer, the band’s biggest local headlining show yet. In the meantime, read the band’s exclusive chat with PAPER and check out Vanessa Pla’s collaborations with them on their three most recent singles.
*Register for WXPN’s Free At Noon here.
**Get your tickets for Union Transfer here.
