The Clap: Spring 1996-Summer 1997

Before The Mojo Wire became a Thompson-esque footnote, they were called The Clap. Bryn bestowed the name in 1996 when he and Keir first acquired a 4-track tape recorder and committed the band's messy 12-bar arrangements to posterity. Adam had been recording their rehearsal jams at Kevin's house in mono since May of that year, and the musical carnage reached a fever pitch once multitracking (though strangely, not stereo) got involved. Songs that would make up the debut Mojo Wire album emerged from these practices, and that powered The Clap through two back-to-back gigs on the deck of a boat in Newport Harbor in December '96. Bryn soon soured on their name, however, and The Clap quickly became The Mojo Wire in early 1997 before playing as a wedding band and then decamping for Isla Vista, leaving Kevin behind to deny any of it ever happened.