Claw Boys Claw - Middle Years

Middle Years

The Claw Boys Claw attempted a more accessible sound on Angelbite (1990). Rumors of a cooperation with John Cale had persisted, but Angelbite is produced by Steve Parker (who had worked with British band The Fall and Dutch singer Mathilde Santing), and recorded at ICP studios in Brussels. They played Parkpop in 1991, and Kooy was replaced by Geert de Groot (formerly of the Fatal Flowers). The Dutch press considered $uga (1992) a highpoint for the band, and it established a style the band will follow on every album after, a circuitous and melodic "brooding swamp rock" The album was recorded at Orkater studios in Amsterdam and produced by Magic Stick (Michel Schoots, of the Urban Dance Squad). The ballad "Rosie" was the band's first single to score in the Dutch Top 40, and the song is still their best-known.

In 1993 they played Pinkpop again and opened for U2 three nights in a row in the Kuip, the largest crowd the band had ever played for, but after 1994's Nipple, recorded in the band's own studio and produced by Luc Suèr, the band lost momentum. Te Bos returned to his old profession, graphic design; the band released one more CD, Will-o-the-Wisp (recorded in Smecky Barrandov Studio in Prague, and produced by Henk Jonkers and Frank van der Weij), and played one more memorable show: in 1998, they played in Paradiso in Amsterdam, performing covers of Iggy and the Stooges as part of the "Marlboro Flashback" series, which even gave the Claw Boys Claw the rare opportunity for a TV-special.The band stopped performing around 2000.