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album reviews

Clinic



Clinic 7 ( 1999 )
I.P.C Subeditors Dictate Our Youth / Porno / D.P. / Monkey On Your Back / D.T. / Evil Bill / Cement Mixer / Kimberley / Voot

This collects together Clinics first three singles in full. Nine songs, one of which was a dig at the guys who run N.M.E magazine. The NME loved it! They love this more than any other Clinic release! True, its a storming, rollercoaster, punk/garage ride whilst at the same time sounding like nothing else on earth. Clinic have a sound. They possess their own little world and yes, that's a good thing! It may be purely because the singer has such an unusual voice, but still, as I said, that's a good thing! He sounds like a much slimmed down Black Francis from the Pixies if he'd married Kim Deal and had children and one of those children had become the lead singer of Clinic and been born and brought up in Liverpool, England! Sort of. Listen, buy this! It'll make sense! Second song 'Porno' contains the requisite amount of suitable strange noises but once again, possesses its own world. It sounds like nothing else being produced by modern groups. 'D.P.' is nothing more than a short thrash, it makes no sense whatsoever but it does make you smile.

The highlight of this particular set of songs arrives with 'Monkey On Your Back'. 'Get in the sling boys' indeed! Its fabulous! Its packed full of melody! It sounds like nothing else on earth whilst still being grounded by past influences, so? It sounds great! Its accessible and exciting and wonderful and other words that temporarily elude me. 'D.T.' is another brief thrash of noise, though fairly pointless this time. 'Evil Bill' contains some surf type guitar. Its an instrumental and nothing especially exiciting. Hey, its a b-side! Whatdoyouwant? 'Cement Mixer' which was the next single, sounds great! You can imagine riding a motorbike across inner city blues whilst the wind blows in your hair. Its fantastic! The b-sides once again, are probably inessential. By its very nature, this is a mixed release. But, once you fall under Clincs spell, you'll buy it. Well, I for one say you should!

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Readers Comments plume plumehead@bol.com.br I love 'Monkey On Your Back', but I can't understand half of its lyrics, hehehehe.

Whilst there is nothing else that sounds like this, there is a whole load of things that sound like this. I realise that's contradictory. You can spot the influences, shall we say. The Velvet Underground, one for. The Pixies, maybe. I won't list them all. Thing is, it really doesn't matter. There isn't another album that sounds like this. It's short, being just over thirty minutes long. The opener 'Voodoo Wop' is nothing more than atmospherics. A weird little instrumental. 'Return Of Evil Bill' is simply stupendous. The guitar sound is refreshing. It's like a surf guitar player has stumbled into an alternative rock group. The whole thing sounds like it was recorded in a hall somewhere. A nice effect, actually. The title tune is one of the more melodic moments here and follows on from 'Return Of Evil Bill'. The vocals! I should at least try to describe them. The very first time I heard Clinic I could have sworn it was female vocals I heard. The second time I sat down and listened to them it was apparent it was a male singer. It's hardly Bruce Springsteen 'Born In The USA' type vocals though, you know?! It is vaguely reminiscent of Black Francis of The Pixies in his softer moments. Vaguely. The lyrics are interesting, weird. Probably don't mean a whole great deal but they keep you listening and entertained. Which is what's important, really.

'DJ Shangri-La' is another atmospheric instrumental, organ led. 'The Second Line' is the sound of Clinic all over. A pulsating bass underpins this one. Other highlights, interspersed between the instrumental linking tracks include 'TK' the Velvet Underground esque 'Distortions' and the sweet closer 'Goodnight Georgie'. 'Distortions' I love actually. It's very affecting in an odd sort of way. Effective keyboard/organ sound again. A good debut set, this. Very promising. It is hoped they come back with an even stronger follow up. A band with a future hopefully. So many groups of this type simply fade and disappear. I hope Clinic are not one of those groups. Keep an eye out for them.

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If a debut works to introduce who you are, some of your ideas and influences and perhaps contains one or two real highpoints, where do you go for the follow up set? One idea is that to show signs of progression, you need to suddenly move in half a dozen different directions. The alternative, trying to make basically the same album all over again, but better, is often fraught with danger. People may get bored. But, you know. That's exactly what The Kinks did for example. The Beatles? Clinic have managed it. They've begun picking up a fanbase and positive press in the U.S. In their native UK they've received a mixed press from the start, And, its a bit rich for a certain 'biggest selling rock weekly' to call this an inferior follow up when they also criticised the album this follows up! No, the album isn't a radical departure from 'Internal Wrangler' but it does less obviously display clinics influences by being altogether more confident and assured. The rockier, heavier songs are no longer just brief garage rock thrashes but are genuinely exciting rock songs, if 'rock' is even a word that can still be applied here.

The title song is a deserved single release, a step beyond anything from the debut and a sheer work of pounding, hypnotic brilliance. This album is relatively short by todays standards ( being just under 40 minutes length ) but this actually works to its own advantages. There is little pointless filler, everything works, everything is at least slightly enjoyable. And, in the case of 'walking with thee' or the beautiful 'for the wars', highly enjoyable! 'Harmony', 'Welcome', 'The Bridge' and 'Come Into Our Room' are also highlights. Together, these six songs make up over half the album. So, do Clinic make themselves clearer? Better than before? More of the same? It's a close call, but actually, yes. To all of these, happily.

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Readers Comments Karolina_Jędrzejewska Krln@poczta.onet.pl I fall in love with 'Come into my room; James james_leicester@hotmail.com For the Wars is a thing of great beauty. I first heard it while on a train journet through the frost-bitten fields of the fens one winters afternoon. It was an amazing moment! I like the way the songs have repetetive riffs and rhythms, almost like dance music. It definately has an atmosphere all of its own.

The phrase "always different, always the same" was coined by legendary bbc radio broadcaster John Peel, to describe the 35yr plus career of The Fall. The Fall are a group who have always wilfully resisted any kind of move towards mainstream acceptance, or any kind of commercial breakthrough. With this release of the third Clinic album proper, it becomes clear that these lads from Liverpool are following the same kind of path. The Fall are favourites of mine, Stereolab fit into the same mould, a band releasing albums that are more variations on the same theme, different aspects, rather than a continued progression, or any single leap of startling evolution. So, Clinic appear to have moved sideways for 'Winchester Cathedral', rather than moving forwards. The advantage of this is they remain 'pure', and it's this purity that's one of the most appealing aspects of Clinic. They are as 'indie' as indie bands come, they seem to have a little bit of an old-school 80s indie-attitude to their art, building up a loyal cult following that adore them, rather than courting wider appeal or courting musical journalists. Clinic are so very distinctive. We love them for this. 'Winchester Cathedral' contains some gorgeous monents along the way, weird instrumental backing tracks, the usual semi-mysterious weird pleading, half mumbled and strangely pitched vocals.

Highlights along the way, and there are no low-lights as such, include the stomping 'The Magician' - the rattling cavernous sound of Clinic in full-effect. The sweet melody and lullaby feel of 'Falstaff' ranks amongst the groups most lovely moments, those softer moments Clinic do provide us with from time to time. 'Vertical Takeoff' is an astonishing mess of controlled noise, a really aggressive variation on the usual Clinic sound, and 'The Majestic' is the nearest this album approaches to a sing-a-long hit song. In actual fact, it's not very near to anything approaching sing-a-long or commercial at all, but it does have a nice rolling melody that will stick in your brain. A couple of songs here add piano prominently into the clinic mix. Overall, Clinic sound more assured of themselves without having produced an assured and relaxed sounding album! One of the delights about 'Winchester Cathedral' is the very fact Clinic have seemingly ignored absolutely everything else happening in the music scene at the moment, apart from themselves.

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Clinic retreat from the frontline and retreat from ambitious arrangements of any kind to try and recapture the apparent freshness of their earlier recordings. They do well in places, too. This is a decent thirty two minute listen, a modest affair that's probably sold around ten copies. It also sounds exactly the same as any other Clinic album in style and tone, just not quite as good as the previous couple of LPs. Sure, 'Harvest' is haunting and sure, 'If You Could Read Your Mind' is the best song here. Sure it is, it contains at least some of the pounding swagger that characterises the best Clinic tunes. It's a kind of self-confident swagger too often absent from many of these recordings here. For all the apparent unfocused meanderings that turned off so many listeners and destroyed any chance Clinic may have had of a commercial audience that 'Winchester Catherdral' presented us with, at least it demonstrated a Clinic at least moving, if not exactly forwards. 'Visitations' is the first Clinic album that's utterly disposable if you have any of the previous ones. Lukewarm to positive reviews when 'Winchester Catherdral' was all but ignored by the critics let alone the public may seem to prove this listener wrong, but despite the enjoyable stomp and noise of opener 'Family', easily one of the best tracks here, there's nothing that makes you stop, pause for thought and go 'wow'. 2006 model Clinic seem to have settled comfortably into a groove that goes nowhere in particular. They never were a band that made great strides forwards, but at least every other Clinic album tried to make steps towards some places previously unknown.

The two minute thrash of 'Tusk' sounds for all the world like Clinic circa 2000. The only song on this album that sounds interestingly different to previous Clinic is the acoustic 'Jigsaw Man'. Finding it hard to hear an acoustic ( semi? ) Clinic? Believe that their songs can have substance behind the noise. 'Jigsaw Man' is the definite proof. Elsewhere, beyond the EPs worth of good tunes that comprises 'Family', 'Animal Human', 'If You Could Read My Mind' and 'Harvest' we have little that gets the pulses racing beyond admiration Clinic haven't simply folded in disinterest.

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Ten years worth ( has it really been that long? ) of Scousers Clinic's b-sides, released in part to satisfy loyal fans demand. Whilst their last LP set did little for me, the late John Peel was a stalwart fan, as many have been. Clinic may have missed the chance that minor ad-assisted hit 'The Second Line' seemed to present to them, but they're still here presenting the weird and wonderful in turn. The oddly titled 'Funf' is 30 minutes of the groups b-sides and assorted strangeness that presents a succint overview of what the band are all about. Velvet Underground crossed with Sixties girl groups married with walls of white noise. 'Christmas' is the sweet, melodic yet haunted b-side of 'Come Into Our Room' and certainly deserved better, although Clinic have always been one of those bands whoose b-sides weren't just rejects or inferior material. Although taken from a ten-year time-span, 'Funf' comes across as well as any other album of theirs and doesn't sound too disjointed when moving track to track. Indeed, this can be put down as one of the more enjoyable Clinic releases, without question. Back to 'Christmas', which if you're quick enough you'll be able to hear on the listening post ( see below ) follows the minute of demented distortion that is 'Nicht'. 'Christmas' is one of those songs you can swear you've heard before. The lyrics are economic yet striking and the tune, bare yet containing just enough to give your kids a treat/nightmare, delete as appropriate. The squelching stomp of 'The Castle' is a very fine tune and certainly a winner in our house.

Some of Clinic's more out there instrumentals remind me of 'Telstar' man Joe Meek's instro's - he would have liked Clinic, I feel. 'Lee Shan' is another highlight here though of the songs 'proper', containing a typically twisted Ade Blackburn vocal. 'Magic Boots' is the kind of parent displeasing, brief...... well, 'racket' that Clinic do so very well, it sounds thrilling and too few bands these days do sound thrilling. Here's to another ten years of Clinic, that's what I say.

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Clinic may just have released their best album. What is it now, a good six or seven albums they’ve done? Not many bands I can instantly recall ( that aren't The Fall ) are able to do such things. Clinic have done it by steadfastly refusing to bow to pressure to change their style for potential commercial gain. They've stuck to their weird and wonderful ways and therefore remain one of the best underground/alternative bands operating right now. Clinic themselves have described ‘Do It!’ as their 'summer' album although it's hard to tell why that might be. 'Free Not Free' is indeed gorgeous in the sunshine, though. It's a lovely Clinic ballad with typically mysterious Clinic lyrics. It sounds like a fifties rock n roll love song played by Velvet Underground and produced by Joe Meek only with a stray punk rock guitarist in there too for good measure. It's one of the very finest Clinic songs and five out of five in our house.'Tomorrow' opens with some hard acoustic guitar strings being bashed stridently before Ade Blackburn comes in with a sequence of literate words of simple construction forming what could be described as poetry without meaning – although it does seem intelligent and mysterious and really rather great, anyway.

'The Witch' has been released as a single and it's the best Clinic single since 'Walking With Thee'. It thumps, it's got a monster crazy sound and some of the coolest ‘non-backing’ vocals known to man. 'Shopping Bag' is one of the nosiest and more demented Clinic songs since their early EPs. The hits just keep on coming, 'High Coin' containing sinister sounding keyboard lines, all deliciously unwell. Good news then for all lapsed Clinic fans? Why yes. 'Do It!' can be said to be nothing less than a perfect compendium of everything Clinic have ever been good at. Hooray!

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