Exile on Lake Street
The last time I saw the Clams was in somebody’s basement and they left when the keg was fried. Cindy Lawson sang sweetly through a crappy P.A. system, Roxie Terry played the guitar, Patty Jansen thumped along on bass and Karen Cusak banged away on a little kit that probably never got back upstairs again. The air was thick with cigarette smoke and the smell of stiff black leather. If there had been enough beer we would have been there all night, swaying shoulder to shoulder shouting ” Freebird!”. When all the boys in town started hair farming, putting on the flannel and searching for the perfect grunge sound, Cindy and the girls were still playing straight forward rebel rock and roll. That’s probably why they hung it up too soon. The Clams released two singles and one LP, “Exile on Lake Street”. Cindy Lawson went on to collaborate with Jerry Lefkowitz from Something Fierce in Whoops Kitty and Roxie Terry put together something called Stepchild with a couple guys from Static Taxi. I’ve never heard any reunion buzz about the Clams, but if I it were to happen, on a night that I had to work, I’d call in sick and go see them.
