Cut Worms
Indie rock abandons the snooty northern campuses and lakes for the dazed desert landscapes of the Southwest
’The cut worm forgives the plough’ — Wm. Blake
Arizona takes the L train
The latest self-titled record from the Brooklyn-based, Ohio-born band Cut Worms opens with an ending. “Don’t Fade Out,” the instant classic which starts the album, sounds like the track that plays as the credits roll on a movie about summer love: “Don’t fade out / Don’t fade out on me / Stay right here where / Love will always be.” The track might just have easily served as the closer to a record suffused with pop songs that seemingly have no agenda to hide, but here it is right at the start. It’s another telling sign that front-man Max Clarke, who named his project after a line from William Blake (“the cut worm forgives the plow”), is up to something other than blowing bubbles and selling pop with his apple-pie voice. Originally a native of Strongsville OH, Clarke made his way from bagging groceries at Mark’s to having Wilco and Norah Jones cover his songs. He signed with indie-royalty label Jagjaguwar — of Bon Iver fame — and has cranked out three full-length records and an EP in …