Clintch roars back onto local stage

Jimmy Arguello always has been a Clintch fan.

He went to all of their shows.

He even hung out at their practices.

So when he was offered the job as frontman the day Clintch’s original singer quit the band, the answer was obvious.

“It was always music that moves me. I can’t sit still to it. The chemistry is there. I went from hanging out with the band to hanging out with them with a microphone,” Arguello said.

From watching Clintch – Arguello, Miguel Fiero on drums, Wally Anthony on guitar, Chris Sainsbury on guitar, and Airis Cerecedes on bass – on the stage to rocking onstage with them over the past year has been a wild ride.

Local metalheads and sister band to Five Foot Thick, Clintch only recently rebounded from having its equipment destroyed, along with FFT’s gear, in a fire at their shared practice space last year.

Although Aguello is sick of the from-the-ashes stories that have been printed by the media, he admits the fire was a pivotal moment.

Because of the damage from the fire, Clintch has just begun playing shows again in the past few weeks. So far they’ve only played twice – with Prong at Gatsby’s and at The Met with Five Foot Thick.

“It’s felt terrific. We’re getting right back into punching kids in the head with music,” Arguello said.

Clintch continues its streak on Comeback Road today at noon at The Detour, 175 S. Monroe, at the “Best in the West” metal festival. Other bands in the lineup include local rockers Five Foot Thick, Rutah, Distress, The Endustry, Dead Face Down, and God Fearing Nation, plus regional bands Drown Mary, Prozack Staple, Drop Six and Utterance.

The rock rings out until midnight. That’s 11 bands in 12 hours for the all-ages show (beer garden with ID). Tickets are $10 at the door.

The “Best in the West” is a chance for local metal bands to give back to the community, Arguello said.

“We’ll be giving out head wounds, elbows to the jaw, and good rock to move around to,” he said.

Along with a return to playing live shows, Clintch finished recording a new three-song EP, titled “Burnt.”

But the real focus for Clintch will be on tightening its sound and stage show as the members write new songs for an album they’ve got in the works.

Arguello also hinted at a reunion show in late August at The B-Side for his former band, Level, which included FFT’s George Silva, and promoter Terry “Two-Step” Swan.