I’ve tried convincing a lot of editors at a lot of different publications to let me write about Clutch over the years, mostly to no avail. They’re one of my favorite bands, and easily one of the bands I’ve seen play live the most. But the long-running Maryland quartet of Neil Fallon, Tim Sult, Jean-Paul Gaster, and Dan Maines remains resolutely critic-proof. I’ve never met a fellow music writer, much less an assigning editor, who’s as obsessed with them as I am. I think as much of that comes down to their intrinsic uncoolness as it does their eternal square-peggedness.