Search - Clinic :: Do It

Another excellent album from Clinic

bOoKwOrM | usa | 04/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a relatively new fan of Clinic's music, but they're fast becoming one of my favorites. This most recent release is one of their best, with songs like "Emotions", "Coda", and the incredibly catchy "Tomorrow" being standouts. Ade Blackburn's vocals sound like no one else's out there. This UK band definitely deserves wider recognition."

Dub music for the British anarchist art-punk inside us all

John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 05/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Four stars only by comparison with past records, for consistency in my opinion's a recommendation for this band. Ade Blackburn with his distinctive vocals, odd yet hauntingly catchy or menacing, continues to suggest more than their mournful, wistful words slur or sigh. He uses his voice as another instrument, and the depth of this band's deceptively austerd music becomes enriched. It sinks into the woodwork, and has long sustain, and appears to reverberate and linger. This must be their fifth studio CD (not counting the three EP's initially that made the band popular-- at least in Britain-- and the import B-sides "Funf"), and their hallmark sound remains taut.



It's a bit less overwhelming than "Visitations" if not as direct as "Winchester Cathedral" in its strangeness. A necessary step forward, however, as the band shows itself ready to alter its characteristically austere approach in the name of reaching perhaps a few more listeners. Without compromising their intelligence, the production here broadens slightly into more radio-friendly styles in a couple of the tracks.



Such a shift for me's reminiscent of Mark E. Smith and The Fall's forays into blending their own art-punk hermeticism with a broader, yet still experimental, dance or rock-oriented sound. This may appeal to fans of Radiohead (for whom Clinic opened). I predict if more of those millions who follow Radiohead found out about Clinic, they'd logically and deservedly be much higher on the charts and in critical acclaim.



Like Thom Yorke and crew, Ade Blackburn as frontman for this masked quartet cloaks himself in sounds, instead of stepping away or in front of them. The tension increases, and the music thickens, simple patterns that sidle and hiss. Why the band has not achieved a more prominent profile perplexes me, but then, I like The Fall!



So, for such ambitious yet willfully cryptic bands, perhaps a loyal cadre of fans who buy each CD legally and who spread the good word are enough to ensure that they continue. The last cut, by the way, hearkens directly to the Mekons; it celebrates the 600th anniversary of the Bristol Charter, and in a shambolic artsy-punk-folk-anarchist spirit suggests Clinic's stretching further back into their native heritage. This may speak, as it did for the Mekons, again promisingly for a long life for another heir to the venerable tradition of smart, yet quirky and unpredictable, art-punk studio wizards who like to keep you puzzled. An enjoyable record, both happy and howling, and recommended for those who like to keep themselves and their fellow listeners off guard a bit."