San Francisco’s Shannon & The Clams are generally associated with good times, especially their live shows, but new album The Moon is in the Wrong Place was born of tragedy. In 2022, Shannon Shaw’s fiancé, Joe Haener, was killed in an auto accident just weeks before their wedding. “We all felt the urgency of making something that reckoned with this meteor that smashed into our planet,” keyboardist Will Sprott says. “This is the most focused record we’ve ever done, as far as everything coming from a singular traumatic event.” The circumstances and lyrics are heavy, but it has resulted in Shannon & The Clams’ best album to date. Read our full review here and listen to the album below.
For more on the musical side of the album, the entire band — Shannon Shaw, Cody Blanchard, Will Sprout, and Nate Mahan — made us a list of songs that inspired its creation, including tracks by Wire, The Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones, Irma Thomas, The Moody Blues, Jim Sullivan, and more. Read their list and commentary below.
SHANNON & THE CLAMS – SONGS THAT INFLUENCED ‘THE MOON IS IN THE WRONG PLACE’
Will Sprout:
“Paint It Black” – Rolling Stones
In my head this is one of the most powerful songs about losing a loved one ever. Eerily, we recorded an unreleased cover of this during the sessions for our previous record and have occasionally played it live since then.
UFO – Jim Sullivan
I know Shannon and Joe shared a love for this record, and I love it too. Our record also has a song called UFO at least partially influenced by this song and record. One thing I can’t stop thinking about when I listen to this record is how great the drumming is.
“Endegena” – Hailu Mergia
I’ve listened to this guy’s albums a lot over the last few years, and I think this style of playing has crept into my subconscious and probably into how I write melodies and solos. I only learned a few weeks ago when we played a festival together in Arkansas that we have the same booking agent.
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Nate Mahan:
“Cry On” – Irma Thomas
I love New Orleans and I love Irma’s voice on this one. Allen Toussaint wrote this tune and I’m pretty sure is playing the organ on it as well, incredible drawbar work, the arrangement is sparse and so beautiful.
“Drums” – Johnny Cash
There’s something about a rebel song and this one just hits me right every time I hear it.
“Soul Limbo” – Booker T and the MGs
Al Jackson Jr is a constant source of inspiration for me on the drums, he can set up a beat that just feels so good to move too, my body just immediately starts to sway when I hear it. Love the joyous good time party feel on this one.
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Cody Blanchard:
“Mannequin” – Wire
Wanted to capture the New Wave/ No Wave/ Punk Pop cross section spirit of this song somewhere and I think it came out on the song “What You’re Missing.” Catchy and hooky and raw and raucous and cutting edge and melodic.
“Liar, Liar” – Castaways
Really wanted to dredge up this weird fuzzy post-psych / pre-disco kind of pop that seemed to only exist briefly in the late sixties. It was like danceable up-tempo psych music with fuzz guitar and r&b falsetto vocals. This genre feels so under-represented – like there’s so much more we can do with it, more potential! I think we caught a bit of it on “The Moon is in the Wrong Place” and “Big Wheel.”
“Troublemaker” – Chrissy Zebby Tembo
Always loved this Black Sabbath viewed through the kaleidoscope of 70s Zambia sound. I aspire to sound even half as cool as this. Beautifully blasted and shreddy and raw, trudging through the swamp tempo, unhinged vocal moaning like a ghost.
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Shannon Shaw:
“Evening” – The Moody Blues
I love how The Moody Blues songs transport you to multiple places. They can capture the environment and gently move you into the next one all in one song. Paul McCartney does it in his solo songs too.
“Maybe” – The Three Degrees
I love the mood and atmosphere this song creates. It builds forever and then explodes. It’s a total surprise but it all still fits in the song. That’s something I was going for with “The Vow” and “Hourglass.”
“I Found A Reason” – The Velvet Underground
I listened to this song so much after Joe died. He put it on a mixtape for me when we first got together. I love how it is able to mix gentle melancholy with rocking. It’s driving for being so subdued. I feel like that describes one of the new moods I’ve developed in my life since his death. A bottomless pool of grief I’m floating around in, but the water is warm and beautiful and it’s where I want to be right now.
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Shannon & The Clams will be on tour starting May 23 and play Brooklyn’s Warsaw on May 30 with Tropa Magica. All dates:
5/23 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups ^ *SOLD OUT*
5/24 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall ^
5/25 – Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall ^
5/26 – Montréal, QC @ Les Foufounes Électriques ^
5/28 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair ^
5/30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw ^ *SOLD OUT*
5/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ^
6/1 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat ^
6/4 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle ^
6/5 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel ^
6/6 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West ^
6/7 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East ^
6/8 – Pelham, TN @ The Caverns * *SOLD OUT*
6/10 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway ^
6/11 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^
6/12 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre ^
6/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line ^
7/27 – Portland, OR @ Project Pabst
10/3 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre
10/4 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
10/5 – Mesa, AZ @ The Nile Theater
10/7 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/8 – Denver, CO @ The Gothic Theatre
10/10 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell
10/11 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club Ballroom
10/15 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
10/16 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Theatre
10/19 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
^ w/ Tropa Magica
* w/ Murder By Death