You ever stumble onto a band that feels like a secret handshake? That’s Jack o' the Clock. Honestly, trying to describe them to someone who hasn't heard them is a bit of a nightmare because they don't fit into the little boxes we usually use for music. They aren't just "folk" and they certainly aren't just "prog," though they get lumped in there a lot because the music is, well, complicated.
Based out of Oakland, California, this group has been quietly carving out a space that feels both ancient and brand new. Damon Waitkus, the primary songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, has this way of writing lyrics that feel like short stories you’d find in a dusty attic. It’s American Gothic. It’s chamber music. It’s rock. It's basically everything at once.
If you’re tired of the same four chords and the same tired tropes on the radio, you’ve come to the right place.
The Weird, Wonderful World of Jack o' the Clock
Most people get Jack o' the Clock wrong by trying to categorize them too quickly. You’ll see them on sites like Progressive Ears or listed alongside avant-prog giants, but that’s only half the story.
Think about it this way. Imagine a world where the Dust Bowl never ended, but everyone suddenly got really good at playing bassoons and hammered dulcimers. That’s the vibe. Waitkus leads the charge with an array of instruments that most rock bands wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. We’re talking flutes, krummhorns, and various percussion toys that sound like they were salvaged from a Victorian clockmaker's workshop.
The lineup has shifted over the years, but the core ethos remains the same: meticulous composition paired with an almost reckless emotional honesty. It’s not "math rock" for the sake of being difficult. The odd time signatures—and there are plenty of them—feel like the natural heartbeat of the stories they’re telling.
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Complexity That Actually Means Something
One of the biggest gripes people have with "complex" music is that it can feel cold. It’s like a technical exercise. But with Jack o' the Clock, the complexity serves the narrative. Take a track like "The Steam-Powered Elephant" or anything off the Repetitions of the Old City albums. The music mirrors the instability of the characters in the songs.
Waitkus writes about memory. He writes about the decay of the American landscape. He writes about people who are just trying to hold it together while the world changes around them.
The band's ability to pivot from a gentle, finger-picked folk melody to a jagged, dissonant woodwind explosion is their superpower. It keeps you on your toes. You can’t just put this on in the background while you’re doing dishes; it demands that you sit down and actually listen.
A Discography Built to Last
If you're looking for a place to start, it's a bit overwhelming. They’ve been prolific.
- How Can I Be Anything But All-Deranged? (2009) set the stage with its raw, experimental energy.
- All My Friends (2013) refined the "chamber folk" sound into something truly unique.
- Repetitions of the Old City I & II (2016/2018) are arguably their masterpieces. These are sprawling, ambitious records that feel like a single, unified vision.
- Leaving-Rooms (2021) showed a more intimate, perhaps slightly darker side of the project.
There’s a real evolution here. You can hear the band getting more comfortable with their own weirdness. The production gets crisper, the arrangements get tighter, but that central "Jack o' the Clock" DNA—that mixture of nostalgia and anxiety—never goes away.
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Why Nobody Talks About Them (But Should)
The music industry isn't exactly built for bands like Jack o' the Clock. They don't have a three-minute hook that's going to go viral on TikTok. They aren't wearing flashy costumes or picking fights on Twitter. They’re just... musicians. Real ones.
There's also the "prog" stigma. A lot of people hear that word and immediately think of twenty-minute keyboard solos and lyrics about wizards. Jack o' the Clock isn't that. They are much closer to the spirit of someone like Tom Waits or even Joni Mitchell at her most experimental. They’re using the tools of progressive music to build something much more grounded and human.
The "folk" label also does them a bit of a disservice. While the instruments are often acoustic, the structures are anything but traditional. It’s not "Hey-Ho" campfire music. It’s sophisticated, high-level composition that just happens to use a dulcimer.
The Oakland Connection
Being from the Bay Area definitely influenced their sound. There’s a long history of experimental music in Oakland and San Francisco, from the Residents to Fred Frith (who actually taught Waitkus at Mills College). You can hear that "anything goes" attitude in every record.
Mills College has been a hub for avant-garde thought for decades, and Jack o' the Clock is a direct descendant of that lineage. They aren't afraid to fail, which is exactly why they succeed in creating something so distinct. When you stop worrying about whether or not a song is "catchy" in the traditional sense, you’re free to explore some pretty incredible territory.
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How to Actually Listen to This Band
If you’re going to dive in, don't just shuffle their top tracks on Spotify. This is "album music."
- Start with Repetitions of the Old City I. It’s the perfect gateway. It has the big arrangements, the haunting lyrics, and enough melody to keep you grounded while they take you on some pretty wild detours.
- Read the lyrics. Seriously. Damon Waitkus is one of the best lyricists working today. His imagery is vivid—rusted machinery, tall grass, flickering lights, the feeling of a town that’s been forgotten by time.
- Listen on headphones. There is so much detail in the layering of the instruments. A lot of the magic happens in the periphery—the subtle rattle of a percussion instrument or a faint woodwind line that only appears for a second.
The Live Experience
If you ever get the chance to see them live, do it. It’s a bit of a circus, in the best way possible. Seeing how they manage to replicate these complex studio arrangements with just a few people on stage is a feat of engineering as much as it is a feat of musicianship. They swap instruments constantly. It’s frantic but focused.
The Legacy of the Clock
Is Jack o' the Clock ever going to be a household name? Probably not. And honestly, that’s okay. They’ve built a dedicated following of people who crave something different. They are a "musician's band," the kind of group that other artists listen to when they need to be inspired.
They remind us that music can still be a place of discovery. It doesn't have to be predictable. It doesn't have to follow a formula. Sometimes, the best music is the stuff that makes you work a little bit to understand it.
Actionable Steps for the Curious Listener
If you're ready to explore this corner of the musical universe, here’s how to do it right:
- Visit their Bandcamp page. This is the best way to support them directly. They have their entire catalog there, often with extensive liner notes and lyrics.
- Check out the "Related Artists." If you like Jack o' the Clock, you’ll probably find a lot to love in the broader "Avant-Prog" and "Chamber Folk" scenes. Look into artists like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Henry Cow, or Inland Territory.
- Follow the individual members. Many of the musicians in the band, including violinist Kate McLoughlin or drummer Jason Hoopes, are involved in other fascinating projects in the Bay Area experimental scene.
- Give it three listens. Don’t give up after the first track. Your ears need time to adjust to the tuning and the timing. By the third listen, the "weirdness" starts to feel like home.
Jack o' the Clock represents a certain kind of artistic integrity that is becoming increasingly rare. They aren't chasing trends; they’re chasing a sound that only exists in their heads. Fortunately for us, they’ve decided to share it with the rest of the world.