'Houston's Renaissance Man of Rock' Releases Debut Lo-Fi Alternative Album "Clean Tones" Under Solo Project, Danara Pel

HOUSTON - Aug. 17, 2020 - PRLog -- Hailed by Housician Magazine as "Houston's Renaissance Man of Rock," multi-instrumentalist rocker Clint Rater has quite an impressive musical portfolio: founding member and drummer for local psychedelic punk band Jody Seabody & The Whirls since 2004, bassist for heavy metal band Funeral Horse since 2016, and now one-man band for solo project Danara Pel on his debut lo-fi alternative album, "Clean Tones."

"Suddenly it's this pandemic, having no shows, no tours, no records to work on, no musical outlet in the foreseeable future. It really gave me time to do a deep dive into all the little snippets of unfinished gems I've recorded through the years."

  With songs and sounds recorded between 2007 and 2020, Rater's 13-year-spanning project is a moving modern concept album that features the hit singles "OK Cool See You Soon" and "Don't Look Down," with the former being compared to Radiohead's "Creep" from their debut album "Pablo Honey" due to both song's replayability and goosebump-inducing musical climaxes. Similarly to how "Creep" was banned for being "too depressing" (as well as Radiohead's Thom Yorke dropping the f-bomb a few times), "OK Cool See You Soon" is an alt-rock anthem that's as hauntingly melancholy as it is beautiful, tied together with slide guitar wails by Jody Seabody & The Whirls bandmate, Bryce Perkins.

  Kicking off "Clean Tones" is the comparably wistful introduction "Never Loud (Audience Reaction To The Look Of Confused Longing On The Dead Girl's Face)," which Rater describes as "a lament for those lost and the regret we feel when we can no longer tell people we love them." Rater's diverse personal discography and influences from rock legends like The Beatles to the late Texan Daniel Johnston, whose style and music inundated Rater after spending his formative years with Johnston's nephew in Katy, Texas, are prominently displayed with songs like the mellifluous single "Don't Look Down" and the upbeat psychadelic track "All Hail Life."

  The last half of the self-titled "Clean Tones", a play on Rater's name, Clinton, features more experimental arrangements and effects with "The Way We Were" and the blissfully harmonious "I Retain," followed by the humble yet catchy piano instrumental, "Girlies." Seemingly wrapping up the album is the reprisal track, "Never Loud (Interesting Closure)," delivering intense refrains and dissonant tones; however, serving somewhat as a bonus track is the final track "Through The Storm," a ukulele ditty depicting mental illness during the ongoing pandemic.

  "Clean Tones" is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, BandCamp and SoundCloud!