Clinic – Walking with Thee

ARTIST: Clinic           

TITLE:  Walking with Thee

YEAR RELEASED: 2002

CHART ACTION: #133 UK

SINGLES: Walking with Thee (#65 UK), Come into Our Room (#85 UK)

OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Not over in these parts

LINEUP: Ade Blackburn, Brian Campbell, Jonathan Hartley, Carl Turney.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: UK indie band reins in some of their oddities, which leaves the final product more mainstream, relatively, and not as loud.

SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Starting with a creepy sound that sounds like if Coldplay were led by a villain in a horror thriller, Clinic’s second full album reveals itself to be a somewhat quieter, more tuneful record.

Sometimes it works – on the aforemented “Harmony”, “The Equaliser” and the title cut. But at times, the new direction (kinda new direction) leads them into a sonic lull. There’s nothing compelling about some of the tracks, the melodies are backing are repetitive but not tense.

It’s good, and the highlights are probably some of the best stuff Clinic’s done to that point. It’s just that by moving directions they take away some of the edge that made them interesting.

NOTES & MINUTIAE: Maybe some people in the US heard this, since it was nominated for a Grammy in 2003 for “Best Alternative Music Album” – losing to…Coldplay. Oh, Grammies.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No

GRADE: B: It’s not like the boring songs are bad, just not exciting. As a whole it’s a mixed bag, but the really good cuts are strong.

 

Clinic – Internal Wrangler

ARTIST: Clinic
TITLE: Internal Wrangler
YEAR RELEASED: 2000
CHART ACTION: #142 UK
SINGLES: The Return of Evil Bill (#70 UK), Distortions (#81 UK), The Second Line (#56 UK)
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: No. Stritcly a UK thing.
LINEUP: Ade Blackburn, Brian Campbell, Jonathan Hartley, Carl Turney
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: First full length from the twister-of-songs-and-motifs band – still with the cheap sounding equipment and distorted vocals. It doesn’t work as well over a full album.

SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Clinic’s record of getting their songs on TV commericals in the UK continues, as “The Second Line” was used in an ad and propelled this full length to the charts.

However, it’s NOT commercial (neither were their EPs) and the distorted vocals, weird and old keyboards and overdriven instruments can wear on you after a time. They do have catchy hooks, which may be one reason they got played and were used in ads, but it’s not like Clinic is putting out normal pop songs. Heck, I don’t know what you’d call it.

Most of this is good for a catalog that goes on random, because it is clever and pretty decent in short doses. But it’s hard to sit through all at once.

NOTES & MINUTIAE: This release has 13 songs, but on CD there were 14 tracks. I guess the band has a thing about the number 13, so they put in a blank track for four seconds on the CD.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No

GRADE: B-: Fine in short doses but the noise gets a botherin’ me.

Clinic – Clinic

ARTIST: Clinic 

TITLE:  Clinic (also known as 3 EPs)

YEAR RELEASED: Compilation

CHART ACTION: None

SINGLES: Lead cuts were: I.P.C. Subeditors Dictate Our Youth, Monkey on Your Back, Cement Mixer

OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Highly doubtful

LINEUP: Ade Blackburn, Brian Campbell, Johnathan Hartley, Carl Turney

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: After signing a record deal, the eccentric UK band re-releases its self-released EPs in one collection.

 

SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Clinic is a band that had been working under various names for quite a long time, but they didn’t get noticed until Campbell and Turney joined, and they started to self-release EPs under the name Clinic. The track “I.P.C. Subeditors Dictate Our Youth” was a song of the week by the NME, and in a year or so they signed to Domino records.

The sound of Clinic is jarring, using old keyboards, sharp, repetitive guitars (sometimes sounding like a demented surf band) and acidic vocals by Blackburn. Oh, and they’re not afraid to use weird tempos, tape loops, drum machines or other tricks for their records. They’re not a smooth listen, for sure.

That being said, this nine-song collection is a pretty good introduction to early Clinic. Not every song works (usually song 3 of the EP is something that is experimental) but enough do for curiosity’s sake.

NOTES & MINUTAE: Somehow, the song “D.P.” from their first EP was used for a commercial. It’s not one I would associate with any product, but there ya go.

IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION:  No

GRADE: B. Interesting and enjoyable for those who don’t mind some arty change-ups going on around them.