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"The perfect rock band" - NME , 8 Jun 2007
Formed in Bristol in 1984 by lead singer Christian Riou (who claimed in a 2004 interview that a famous local clairvoyant advised him to form a band called the Clayton Troop!), Claytown Troupe was an Alt-Rock act touted as a cross between The Cult's fake rock and the authentic crusty rock of Pop Will Eat Itself and Crazyhead. In truth there was more to them than that and they suffered much in coming from England at a time of 'Crusty'; a time when high expectations in Rock, and Rock itself, were generally frowned upon.
By 1986 they had an accomplished yet chaotic live show which earned them an exciting reputation on the underground scene. Signed to Island in 1988 this Ron Fair and Ralph Jezzard produced debut was universally well received yet only made it to a criminally underrated number 74 in the album charts.
'Through The Veil' shares The Cult's sensibilities for anthemic rock bluster coupled with a tinge of indigenous Americana and everyman lyrics: "If I could drink the world dry, then I could maybe cry." It has a genuine atmosphere to it and sounds unlike anyone else, either then or now; there is a swagger and confidence on this album that promised great things and a stadium rock future.
What followed was a string of high profile tours and excellent releases. The Claytown's played the Marquee, Astoria and the Town & Country Club and supported The Cult on the 'Sonic Temple' tour, Pearl Jam, The Wonder Stuff, The Damned, Julian Cope, Jesus Jones and The Mission.
Switching labels to EMI Records in the 90's Claytown Troupe cut their next album, the excellent 'Out There', with David Bianco producing at the Hit Factory, New York. They toured Britain in 1992 with Terrorvision supporting and subsequently opened for Seattle behemoth's Pearl Jam (It had been arranged the other way round with PJ to support CT but the Grunge kings were kind of riding the whirlwind in '92.) Unfortunately, the band folded when, after parting company with EMI, drummer Andy Holt and bassist Paul Waterson made their exit.
Recently (2004), the band returned to the UK music scene, Christian Riou and Rick Williams being joined by original bassist Chris Sharp plus new members Clive Murray on guitar and drummer Dan Roth. The reformed band headlined the Whitby Goth festival in 2004 to good overall reviews mixing old songs from their two previous albums with newer material. And this year (2007) there have been stirrings of more new material and possible shows with Christian teaming up with Ben Christo (current Sisters Of Mercy guitarist) for rehersals. Check the bands myspace site for further info.
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