Shannon & the Clams

Oakland's Shannon & the Clams fused the doo wop and early rock & roll of the 1950s with the dramatic girl-group aesthetic of the 1960s and the rebellious edge of 1977 punk, yielding a retro style that feels fresh rather than derivative. The band surfaced on the Northern California underground and DIY circuit in 2009, fronted by vocalist Shannon Shaw, who quickly established the group as an exceptional concert draw; their recording identity crystallized after they joined the Sub Pop-affiliated Hardly Art roster for the 2013 release Dreams in the Rat House and the 2015 album Gone by the Dawn. Three subsequent LPs helmed by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys—Onion in 2018, Year of the Spider in 2021, and The Moon Is in the Wrong Place in 2024—moved the trio nearer to wider recognition.

Vocalist and bassist Shannon Shaw, vocalist and guitarist Cody Blanchard, and drummer Ian Amberson formed the band while attending art school in the late 2000s; they began performing locally and soon issued a single on Weird Hug Records before aligning with 1-2-3-4 Go! Records for their first full-length, 2009's I Wanna Go Home. During the same period Shaw also played bass and sang with Hunx & His Punx. Following the 2010 album Sleep Talk on 1-2-3-4 Go! and numerous singles, the group shifted to Hardly Art for their third LP. Dreams in the Rat House took shape across a year in scattered locations, among them Nobunny's rehearsal room and a log cabin, resulting in a more cohesive and forceful overall sound.

The band's live reputation grew, prompting extensive North American and Australian tours. By the arrival of 2015's Gone by the Dawn, Amberson had departed and Nate Mahan, performing as Mayhem, assumed drumming duties. Recorded by Sonny Smith at San Francisco's Tiny Telephone Recording, the album marked further advances in the trio's sonic and compositional refinement. In 2016 Shannon Shaw discovered that Dan Auerbach was an admirer who had recommended the Clams to an Australian promoter, thereby enabling their tour Down Under. After Shaw reached out to express gratitude, the two developed a friendship that led Auerbach to sign the band to his Easy Eye Sound imprint, where he also produced their debut for the label, 2018's Onion.

A few months afterward Easy Eye Sound released Shaw's solo album Shannon in Nashville. The next band project unfolded amid hardship: Shaw composed much of the material while tending to her ailing father and contending with a recurring peeping Tom at her building. Once tracking concluded in Nashville under Auerbach's guidance, a tornado struck the city and the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the recordings for months; Year of the Spider finally appeared in August 2021. In 2022 Shaw became engaged to drummer Joe Haener, who had previously worked with Gris Gris and the Dodos. Haener died in a car accident near his family's farm only weeks before the wedding, prompting the group to pause all immediate activities while processing the loss. From that grief Shaw and her bandmates began writing songs centered on healing and beauty; the resulting material again received robust, artful production from Dan Auerbach, and The Moon Is in the Wrong Place emerged on Easy Eye Sound in May 2024.