Shannon and the Clams are touring behind a new album called The Moon Is in the Wrong Place. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Shannon and the Clams

Shannon and the Clams filter the classic energy of early rock ’n’ roll through a twisted modern sensibility.

Consider it Buddy Holly and the Ronettes but updated for 21st century weirdos. Or, perhaps, a musical version of a John Waters film.

Frontwoman Shannon Shaw is a renowned figure in the underground music scene for her fearless performances. She pretty much owns any room.

Now touring a new LP, The Moon Is in the Wrong Place, Shannon and the Clams will play the Paper Tiger on Friday, April 4, with Austin’s Being Dead opening the show. The album finds the group dealing with personal loss and expanding its musical palette.

Ahead of the show, we caught up with Clams guitarist Cody Blanchard about the new record, Texas’ weirdness and the band’s relocation out of its Oakland, California, birthplace.

For those unfamiliar with your sound, how would you describe your band?

An LSD prom, something like that.

Sweet and innocent early rock ’n’ roll but with twisted aspects?

Yes. Kind of a David Lynch feeling. There’s a bit of spaghetti western in there.

How does this new album feel different?

It’s about death. Our friend died, and it’s all dedicated to him. So, that’s different. Maybe a little tougher and darker than the last ones. More rocking, maybe. I’m very musically restless, so I’m always trying to push our personal envelope. Shannon often likes to do the comfortable thing and I don’t. When we’re writing for the record, we each come in with our ideas, and Shannon will be like, “That’s too weird,” or whatever. And then I end up saying to her, “This is a little boring, can we make this weirder?”

Sounds like a proper collaboration.

It’s a proper band, yeah. We had Will our keyboard player sing lead on a couple songs this time, which was new. He has his own stuff. He’s been recording forever. Our drummer also co-wrote a song. That was new also for us.

How’s the Bay Area these days?

None of us live there anymore … we all left. I want to move back, but it’s too expensive for me at the moment. Nate lives in Arizona, Will lives in Nevada City, I live in Oregon, Shannon lives in Southern California. Excited to tour.

There’s a weird undercurrent to San Antonio. Have you been to the Alamo?

I have not, but the rest of the band has been over there.

You know the drummer Phil Collins? He believes he fought in the battle of the Alamo in a previous life.

Oh, God. Which side?

The side of … freedom.

Freedom. (Laughs.)

There’s a new wing — a Phil Collins wing — at the Alamo, filled with all his Alamo artifacts. He was the largest collector of Alamo stuff in the world.

What, dude? What? That’s crazy. What the hell?

That combined with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure—

Yeah, man. San Antonio is cool. We’ve been to Houston too. Houston is interesting and weird. I went to the science museum there, and it was all about how good oil drilling is. Clearly paid for by an oil company.

They run the show here. Speaking of Texans, seems like you guys would like Buddy Holly.

Yeah, we do. He’s a Texas boy.

Have you had any Texas experiences on tour? Any run-ins with cowboys?

I’ve never seen any actual cowboys in Texas. I see rock ’n’ roll dudes with cowboy hats. Party dudes. We’re usually in cities — no real cowboys.

You think a real cowboy would like your music?

I don’t think so, honestly. We do have some farmer friends who like it. Agriculture people. They can surprise you. Not always, but sometimes. This farmer one time brought us a crate of avocados and cheese and stuff to a show and invited us to come stay on his farm.

We were in Texas four years ago. It had snowed, and the freeway was completely fucked. Traffic had stopped. We tried to go across the freeway, across this huge hill and patch of grass, but we got stuck in the mud. We were rocking the van, putting stuff under the wheels.

There was this dude in an F-150 tearing around the snow and mud on the hill, just whipping around. He drove over to us and offered to help. Hooked up a chain to our axle, pulled the van out. That guy was a real cowboy dude. With that truck, he must wait all year to rescue someone, feel really cool. He said, “I’ll show you the cool way,” then he took us down a country road to avoid all the freeway traffic.

$25, 8 p.m. Friday, April 4, Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Mar 19 – Apr 1, 2025.