Claw Boys Claw - Rebirth, 25th Anniversary

Rebirth, 25th Anniversary

There were rumors in the spring of 2006 that the Claw Boys Claw were working on a new album and wanted to start touring again, and that Geert de Groot was replaced by Lya Spykstra. According to Te Bos, he and Cameron had written some seventy songs since 2002, some of which were released in February 2008 on Pajama Day, on the Dutch label Play It Again Sam. The album was welcomed by critics, who hailed their lyrical maturity, honesty, and musical ability. Most critics noted that the Claw Boys Claw had dialed down the volume, but still praised the album—Belgian weekly HUMO said that the album contained the most exciting rock songs they had heard in years and gave it four out of five stars, and while the reviewer from De Recensent found only three worthwhile songs on the CD, the Dutch paper De Volkskrant thought it a brooding and dark album containing "beautiful secrets." Dutch music magazine Muziekkrant OOR concurred, calling the album "swamp rock" full of tension, and "a record to take to bed."

Starting on November 16, 2007, the group played live shows again (with Marcus Bruystens instead of Spykstra on bass), and the Dutch music critics responded very positively, online music magazine LiveXS calling their performance at the January 2008 Noorderslag festival in Groningen "legendary." The "country's most legendary live band" played their first radio show in a decade in January 2008, for VPRO's 3VOOR12. They continued to play all around the country, in The Hague on the night before the Koninginnedag celebrations, for instance. Their most visible show in 2008 was probably at Lowlands (alongside, for instance, the Sex Pistols), a festival for which Te Bos also designed the logo and all other objects, even the gate to the festival grounds. The band's dynamic live performances were honored with the 2008 "Iron Stage Beast", the VNPF LiveXS Award for best show; LiveXS called the band "better than ever" in a review of a show in the Melkweg in December 2008.

In honor of their 25th anniversary, on June 2, 2008, HipCat/PIAS Benelux released Shocking Shades Of Claw Boys Claw on CD, remastered with five additional tracks. Also reissued were $uga, with two additional tracks, Nipple, with three additional tracks, and Will-O-The-Wisp, with five additional tracks, all by EMI/Msi Music/Super D. The band continued to tour and played a festival in Utrecht around Easter 2009. A new album, Hammer, was released March 1, 2013.