Little Claw is a trio that recently relocated from Metro-Detroit to Portland, OR, whose musical efforts continue in the spirit, if not the actual sound, of the noisy, boundary-pushing experimentalists of each city, running from OGs such as Destroy All Monsters (Detroit) and Smegma (Portland) to modern artists like Jackie-O Motherfucker (Portland) and Wolf Eyes (Detroit). ?Spit and Squalor Swallow The Snow? is their second full-length release. It contains nine tracks ranging from dark, driving, lo-fi, vaguely pop-leaning pieces like ?Hobo Baby Zeus? and ?Polar Bear? to damaged punk with strong blues undercurrents such as ?Brackish Stratum? and the slinky ?Lake Crescent Freeway? and, even, a couple of blasts of primitive noise rock, ?Wayward Chief? and the excellent ?Shoplifting Cart pt.II?, which closes out the set. While Little Claw certainly aren?t charting any new sonic territory on this album, charismatic vocalist Kilynn Lunsford and the energetic performances make ?Spit and Squalor Swallow The Snow? an LP worthy of repeated spins. 7/10 -- Steve Taiclet (26 September, 2007)