|
There isn't a single band around at the moment that
resemble Clinic, and the Liverpool band's fourth album
finds them reaching the same high sonic standards.
Their unusual, widescreen sound can sound like
thrash guitar being played in an enormous garage, a
kind of crossbreed of grunge and Phil Spector
perhaps. But it would be doing the group a disservice
to suggest their sound has been too derived.
Sure, there are elements of other styles - a Stone
Roses groove here and there, or the spaced out
Lust For Life-type bass riff that provides the base
for Harvest (Within You). But even here, the far-off
organ and disembodied backing vocals lend an entirely
new slant.
Tracks like Animal/Human find them completely on
their own. Here a brief meditation takes place over a
droned bass, its solemn stillness strangely uplifting.
Likewise Children Of Kellogg, which has to be heard to
be believed - a bizarre episode in the fairground
acting as an upbeat for a bluesy thrash-out that
changes direction at the drop of a hat, and ends with
somebody sawing wood. Now that would make you choke on
your cornflakes!
When not attending to intricate combinations of
texture the quartet rock for their lives. An
exhilarating rush of distortion takes over Gideon,
while Tusk careers into the mosh pit at breakneck
speed, burning itself out. The one real respite comes
in the centre of the record, as Paradise takes a
mildly reverential tone with singer Ade
Blackburn repeating the hookline "the love you
need to give."
Repeated listening only serves to enhance the whole
experience, bringing fresh marvels at the textures.
The combinations shouldn't work but they do, the blend
of sounds from close by and far off giving the perfect
accompaniment to Blackburn's heavily treated
vocal.
The whole thing's over in just over half an hour,
but provides ample food for thought. What's more, I
guarantee when you've listened to it once you'll be
happy for a repeat experience almost immediately.
In a scene saturated with predictable guitar bands
Clinic are a refreshing alternative, pleasingly
unhinged and resolutely refusing to conform to type.
More power to their elbows.
Comments
|
 |
| 
ALBUM:
more 