"I believe everything / despite what I have heard and seen / no matter what you say and do / I've got love for you..."
The cascading sunlight and persuasive nostalgic love of "You Are Not Alone" by Dew Claw, the musical project of songwriter Stephen Hunking (and friends), locks you in early and throughout like a loving bear hug. As I absorbed the intro full of lo-fi-esque organ and kind of boom box recorded drums and vocals, a truly glorious kind of late 70's / early 80's vintage indie lean with scratches too I, not only felt like a 14 year old kid again but have sensory memories of community with past music scenes. When a potent splash of guitars (acoustic and electric), bass and heavier drums fall in, in a clearer way, in a punchier way, the mold is set. Hunking's vocal countenance, endearing and easy on the ears along with the jangle pop meets soft punk had me feeling an amalgam of different musical eras and touchstones. At different times I thought of Guided By Voices and R.E.M and Miracle Legion and Pixies and Neil Young and George Harrison and E.L.O. by themselves and in collision too.
"You Are Not Alone" is a keeper and feels wonderfully real and sure it is produced but it just feels live and exquisitely sincere.
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[Since 2004, Dew Claw has been the music project for which Stephen Hunking has released his meditations on life, love, parenting, personal themes, and other abstract musings. Stephen has created 4 full-length releases plus various singles and EPs under the Dew Claw umbrella over the last 20 years, while also being a member of the NY combo, XL Kings during the ‘10s and their 2 full-length and 1 single releases. Also, during that time, Stephen was a creative force behind the intercontinental band Grand Union, a collaborative venture with Frode Strømstad (I Was A King), which vetted 3 single releases. Stephen initially honed his musical skills and songwriting chops as a member of the group Hypnolovewheel (1987-1994), with 2 albums independently released and another 3 albums on Alias Records, along with assorted singles and compilation appearances.]
[Chris Xefos is best known as a member of King Missile during their 1989-1994 era. This indie-to-major label period for KM brought about the college-rock smash “Jesus Was Way Cool” and alt-rock hit “Detachable Penis”. Post-KM, Chris settled into San Francisco as a producer, engineer, and musician, working on solo albums for former Camper Van Beethoven members: Victor Krummenacher, Jonathan Segel and Greg Lisher amongst other projects. Chris was also a performing member of guitar instrumental groups Flotation Device and Rattletrap, the latter featuring Bruce Anderson of art-punk legends MX-80 Sound. In 2019, Bruce drafted Chris into MX-80 Sound and Chris played an expanded role as both band and recording engineering team member for their 2024 (and swan song) release, Better Than Life on Byron Coley’s Feeding Tube Records.]
[Stephen and Chris have been good friends since high school, discovering and playing music together over this entire time. During their NY/NJ fertile alt-rock period, the King Missile-Hypnolovewheel mafia was STRONG. The 2 bands shared a member for a time and Chris lent a hand with production duties on the first Hypno/Alias release.]
[In 2025, Dew Claw is set to release their latest full length, titled E.L.F. The album contains 10 songs, ranging from Stephen’s personal recordings to full-band arrangements, realized by enlisting generous contributions from: Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen (Rural Tapes/I Was A King), Frode Strømstad, Dave Rick (King Missile), Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks), Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor), Alison Faith Levy (Loud Family) bolstering DCs own instrumental talents in bringing these songs to life. For this record, Dew Claw formulated their initial musical inspiration from the transition period of classic English rockers The Move into Electric Light Orchestra. The Dew Claw team dabbles in traditional orchestral instrumentation in a very studio-built affair. However, when called upon by the song, they still can’t help but get back to their roots and (alt) rocking out. Like traditional Dew Claw material, these songs come from a very personal place for Stephen. However, on E.L.F., Stephen has allowed himself to be more open to collaboration, to open up his perspective and allow these songs to breathe freer and grow in a new light. Farmer power!]
[Stephen and Chris have been good friends since high school, discovering and playing music together over this entire time. During their NY/NJ fertile alt-rock period, the King Missile-Hypnolovewheel mafia was STRONG. The 2 bands shared a member for a time and Chris lent a hand with production duties on the first Hypno/Alias release.]
[In 2025, Dew Claw is set to release their latest full length, titled E.L.F. The album contains 10 songs, ranging from Stephen’s personal recordings to full-band arrangements, realized by enlisting generous contributions from: Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen (Rural Tapes/I Was A King), Frode Strømstad, Dave Rick (King Missile), Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks), Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor), Alison Faith Levy (Loud Family) bolstering DCs own instrumental talents in bringing these songs to life. For this record, Dew Claw formulated their initial musical inspiration from the transition period of classic English rockers The Move into Electric Light Orchestra. The Dew Claw team dabbles in traditional orchestral instrumentation in a very studio-built affair. However, when called upon by the song, they still can’t help but get back to their roots and (alt) rocking out. Like traditional Dew Claw material, these songs come from a very personal place for Stephen. However, on E.L.F., Stephen has allowed himself to be more open to collaboration, to open up his perspective and allow these songs to breathe freer and grow in a new light. Farmer power!]
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6dA53UVLCcNtIAmcVkYf9h
https://dedewclaw.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dewclaw2.0/
For their 2024 release, Dew Claw culled two simple, but still raucous, pieces into a 7” single, “Mouse Trap” b/w “Fantastic Voyage”. The 7” is a limited edition, HQ lathe-cut vinyl single. The digital release of the single includes 5(!) remixes of “Fantastic Voyage”, several of which were conjured up by High Tunnels (aka Dave Ramirez, Hypno/KM inter-member). 3 videos, directed by Stephen, were also created to accompany this release.
In 2025, Dew Claw is set to release their latest full length, titled E.L.F. The album contains 10 songs, ranging from Stephen’s personal recordings to full-band arrangements, realized by enlisting generous contributions from: Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen (Rural Tapes/I Was A King), Frode Strømstad, Dave Rick (King Missile), Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks), Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor), Alison Faith Levy (Loud Family) bolstering DCs own instrumental talents in bringing these songs to life. For this record, Dew Claw formulated their initial musical inspiration from the transition period of classic English rockers The Move into Electric Light Orchestra. The Dew Claw team dabbles in traditional orchestral instrumentation in a very studio-built affair. However, when called upon by the song, they still can’t help but get back to their roots and (alt) rocking out. Like traditional Dew Claw material, these songs come from a very personal place for Stephen. However, on E.L.F., Stephen has allowed himself to be more open to collaboration, to open up his perspective and allow these songs to breathe freer and grow in a new light. Farmer power!
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6dA53UVLCcNtIAmcVkYf9h
https://dedewclaw.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dewclaw2.0/
For their 2024 release, Dew Claw culled two simple, but still raucous, pieces into a 7” single, “Mouse Trap” b/w “Fantastic Voyage”. The 7” is a limited edition, HQ lathe-cut vinyl single. The digital release of the single includes 5(!) remixes of “Fantastic Voyage”, several of which were conjured up by High Tunnels (aka Dave Ramirez, Hypno/KM inter-member). 3 videos, directed by Stephen, were also created to accompany this release.
In 2025, Dew Claw is set to release their latest full length, titled E.L.F. The album contains 10 songs, ranging from Stephen’s personal recordings to full-band arrangements, realized by enlisting generous contributions from: Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen (Rural Tapes/I Was A King), Frode Strømstad, Dave Rick (King Missile), Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks), Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor), Alison Faith Levy (Loud Family) bolstering DCs own instrumental talents in bringing these songs to life. For this record, Dew Claw formulated their initial musical inspiration from the transition period of classic English rockers The Move into Electric Light Orchestra. The Dew Claw team dabbles in traditional orchestral instrumentation in a very studio-built affair. However, when called upon by the song, they still can’t help but get back to their roots and (alt) rocking out. Like traditional Dew Claw material, these songs come from a very personal place for Stephen. However, on E.L.F., Stephen has allowed himself to be more open to collaboration, to open up his perspective and allow these songs to breathe freer and grow in a new light. Farmer power!
Dew Claw, project of Stephen Hunking, folk rock, indie rock, jangle pop, post rock, Chris Xefos (King Missile), indie collabs, earnest songwriting, nostalgic, endearing, "You Are Not Alone" (Official Video), album "E.L.F.,
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