From Beale Street to Oblivionlacks the fire and passion heard on 2005's excessively excellentRobot Hive/Exodus. It's not that the Maryland-based band has betrayed the sound that made it famous or that it has suddenly become incapable of writing a memorable riff of having a go at a good ol' rock 'n' blues stomp. Rather, it's that not much of anything awe-inspiring happens in the course of these 12 tunes. Listeners have to wait until the record's third track ("The Devil & Me") before the rockin' really sticks and from that point forward wade through several successive almost-great moments, feeling the stinging darts of disappointment as the album moves toward the dark and narrow sidewalks ofBeale Street's end. Some of the tracks––namely "Electric Worry" and "Rapture of Riddley Walker" are impossibly pleasing but taken as a whole, this serves as a  bummer set from one of the most promising and consistently imaginative acts. Certainly not a bad record for most bands but one that falls below the high expectations held for Clutch. ––Jedd Beaudoin