Cut Worms

Taking the name from a poem by William Blake, Cut Worms are the vehicle of indie singer/songwriter Max Clarke, who finds inspiration in the bygone traditions of early rock, country, and Americana, fused with a contemporary D.I.Y. spirit and lush arrangements. Born in Ohio and based in Brooklyn, Clarke’s sweet, sometimes mournful sound embraced influences of any number of acts of the 1960s, from the Everly Brothers to Brian Wilson, with a lyrical outlook that embraces quiet joy as well as subtle resignation. Clarke found critical acclaim for Cut Worms’ 2018 debut, Hollow Ground, and 2020′s Nobody Lives Here Anymore was an expansive double album that explored the mood of society on the brink of collapse. 2023′s Cut Worms saw Clarke aiming for a more concise statement while experimenting with different recording environments and studio collaborators.
A native of Strongsville, Ohio, Max Clarke first began working under the name Cut Worms while studying illustration at Chicago’s Columbia College. Although he was active in the city’s punk and noise scenes, he eventually focused his efforts on a relaxed style rooted in the tuneful work of ’50s and ’60s pop artists like Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers as well as the country sound of the same era. Inspired by a prolific musical roommate, he challenged himself to write and record two new songs a month on a digital eight-track, which he offered for free online. In late 2015, Clarke relocated to New York and began building up his reputation as a performer while his charming lo-fi demos made the rounds. He eventually landed a deal with Jagjaguwar Records, which collated six of his best Chicago-era demos into Cut Worms’ debut EP, Alien Sunset, in October 2017.
His next move was to record a full-length album, which he did with the help of producers Jonathan Rado (Foxygen) in Los Angeles and Jason Finkel in N.Y.C. Clarke played most of the instruments on 2018′s Hollow Ground, with help from Rado and drummer David Christian, among others.
A critical success, he spent much of the next two years on the road supporting his debut before buckling down to work on a follow-up. With a deep reservoir of new material, Clarke headed to Memphis to record at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording Studio with producer Matt Ross-Spang. The resulting sessions were rawer and more immediate than what he’d done before and soon grew into the ambitious double album Nobody Lives Here Anymore, which arrived in 2020. By the time the album came out, the COVID-19 pandemic has scuttled Clarke’s plans for a subsequent concert tour, and once he was finally able to take Cut Worms on the road in 2022, he found the album’s longer songs and more complex arrangements difficult to negotiate on stage. He was eager to take a different path on his next album, and 2023′s Cut Worms was a purposely more modest project featuring nine songs and running 35 minutes. Clarke cut the material in three different sets of sessions: one using a portable recording rig at his rehearsal space, another at a facility in Brooklyn with Brian D’Addario (piano) and Michael D’Addario (bass) of the Lemon Twigs, and the third at Onlyness Analog, a studio in the Hudson Valley operated by Rick Spataro of Florist. ~ Timothy Monger & Mark Deming