Clinic - Classic or Dud?

funny, I can appreciate Internal Wrangler as the sort of revered artifact it seems to be among critics, and I never much cared for Walking with Thee, but I actually think Winchester Cathedral is far and away the best Clinic album I've heard as it's actually got the songs (i.e. less than 1-2 minutes snippets of songs) to complement their sound, which admittedly hasn't evolved much in the last 6-7 years

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it seems Christgau would agree with me:

Internal Wrangler [Domino, 2001]
fun with indie-rock, good--only their idea of fun is so inarticulate ("T.K.," "C.Q.") ***

Walking With Thee [Domino, 2002]
if not clinical, definitely formal ("Pet Eunoch," "Welcome") *

Winchester Cathedral [Domino, 2004]
Decried for the sin of repeating themselves by those who once discerned the face of the Blessed Virgin in their surgical masks, these minor formalists find their calling. Really, children, they were never punky enough for fast-short-hard. Here, their structures adamantly circular and their tunes less catchy but more durable, they make dandy mystagogues on an album that begins inarticulate and attains the nirvana of total nonverbality. A-

I also saw them at the weekend and also thought they were good. I can't really disagree about their limited palette but I reckon they have a wider range of influences than they're given credit for, they just don't telegraph it. On the B-sides album that just came out, there's a song called 'Nicht' that sounds like Void and is fucking nuts

Winchester Cathedral? anyone?? cmon!

YESSSSSSSSSSS

Clinic 'Bubblegum'

Domino is proud to announce the arrival of Clinic's new album 'Bubblegum', released on Monday the 4th of October 2010.

‘Bubblegum’, Clinic’s sixth album, is a rewiring of Clinic’s trademark hyped up sound. In place of churning riffs and wired vocals is a dream state of harpsichords, dulcimers and strings. Melody and softness combine with the band’s unique internal logic to produce a record of pop beauty.

Bubblegum is Clinic throwing us a curveball. Alternating between lost soundtracks to exploitation films: ‘Lion Tamer’, ‘Un Astronauta En Cielo’, watery pop-psych: ‘Bubblegum’, ‘Linda’, ‘Forever’ and ping-pong symphonies: ‘Milk & Honey’ and ‘Another Way Of Giving’, this is a very different and very singular Clinic.

Produced by John Congleton (Bill Callahan, St Vincent) and recorded at Elevator Studios in Liverpool, 'Bubblegum' is a high water mark in Clinic’s career to date.
The album will be preceded by the beautiful new single 'I'm Aware' out September the 20th. Download and listen to a characteristically unique megamix (vocal and instrumental) of ‘Bubblegum’ in the Commune.

‘Bubblegum’ will be available on CD (WIGCD256), vinyl (WIGLP256) and as a digital download (WIG256).

Tracklist:

I'm Aware * Bubblegum * Baby * Lion Tamer * Linda
Milk & Honey * Radiostory * Forever (Demis' Blues)
Another Way Of Giving * Evelyn
Un Astronauta En Cielo * Freemason Waltz *
Orangutan

interest piqued

I'm glad people are still excited about Clinic post-Internal Wrangler

I'm glad people are still excited about Clinic post-Internal Wrangler

I wish I was, but I really tried to get into their next couple of albums after IW and it just never grabbed me the same way. I'll check out some of the new tracks online, see if anything's changed.

It's weird, I really loved all of Internal Wrangler and most of Walking With Thee, and then...nothing. I can barely even make it through a song after those two, though not for lack of trying. A while back I was thinking about it, and thought that maybe I had outgrew "that sound" or whatever, because I was listening to Clinic back in the my days of listening to loads of indie rock, but no, I put on Internal Wrangler again and it still kicks just as much ass as I remember. Something happened after Walking With Thee, something blaaaaaand, and it's tough to explain.

they burned out on their signature sound, and they're unwilling or unable to move past it.

but i still love internal wrangler so much.

Internal Wrangler is rightly praised, but I don't think Clinic ever really went away. Last year's Do It! is excellent; that odds 'n' ends collection (forget the name) was awesome; my very favorite is Winchester Cathedral. Didn't get as heavily into Visitations and Walking with Thee, but I've enjoyed them the times I've played them in recent years.

I hope this is good. these dudes were underrated imho

Funny, I just played this album and wrapped up listening ~10 min ago. It's a bit... underwhelming?

Stream here:

http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/luisterpaal/43986271#luisterpaal.43986271

Their recent stuff has been so blah that I'd kind of forgotten how truly good Internal Wrangler is. Holds up much better than I expected going in. Weird that the final song reminds me of first album Slapp Happy, of all people. I'll still check out their new album, but expectations are low.

I really liked Do It! and the Funf collection of stuff, but this new album's left me cold so far. =/

On first listen, I'm pleasantly surprised. So far it sounds really good and different from their other albums. I still have not heard Do It! , but maybe I'll pick this up next week.

Ok, after a few listens (and I never trust impressions based on streams) this seems at least better than anything they've done since Internal Wrangler. It's still clear that they're going to have to go all Tago Mago to ever break out of their rut: they need to do a double album w/all songs over ten minutes.

"Evelyn" is about as good as anything they've done. I'll wait for the real release to think about it more...

Oh, and contrary to Pitchfork, I hear this as much stronger in the 2nd half.

a friend of mine just played these guys for me. no idea what albums he was pulling stuff from - but me likey.

I love these guys. Anyone listen to the new Free Reign? Free Reign II...

Following last year’s release of Free Reign – the sixth studio album by Liverpool’s stalwarts of the surreal Clinic, the band have now announced the imminent landing of Free Reign II – a set of alternate mixes of the original album by revered producer Daniel Lopatin.

Initially involved in the mixing of several songs on the original Free Reign, the band felt that Lopatin’s vision for the record deserved to be fully realised and available. Zoning in on the creeping dub influence that’s always been bubbling in Clinic’s work, Lopatin’s mixes mutate the already mind-clouding originals into something heavier, narcotic and more hypnotic than before. As he himself puts it, "I wanted to give it a burnt, 60s/70s stereo dub feel and was under the influence of a lot of Amon Düül II and Les Rallizes Dénudés when I was mixing."

A fascinating new perspective on the original album for those wise enough to have sought it out already and a great work in its own right for Free Reign newcomers, this collaboration with one of contemporary, experimental electronic music's greatest innovators is testament to the enduring influence of Clinic – one of the most trailblazing British bands of their era.

About to put it on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scooy_493j8

That one sounds pretty good. It inspired me to put together a singles comp, A's and B's, to see if I can connect to their later work (this approach worked for Stereolab). Anyone got a digital copy of "Gentle Lady"? ILXmail me please!

Love this. Sounds so sinister.

I was very surprised by how much I like Free Reign II, after being kind of meh about Free Reign. Even the reshuffled track order seems to work better. Put together a Spotify playlist to make it easier to compare the different versions...

http://open.spotify.com/user/propertius1/playlist/6YCCMZKgwT4BRa8lI5v2cZ

Just found out that Clinic are doing a thing at the Barbican after the residents this Saturday at the 'club' stage, I guess it's free?

lol i heard them on a college radio station and i knew i recognized them but it took me a few minutes. at first i thought..... is this the violent femmes? lol

Distortions is an all time classic track

Clinic - "Rubber Bullets", taken from the forthcoming new album 'Wheeltappers and Shunters', out 10th May 2019 on Domino Record Co

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=H1-rgmqaCw8

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5c7dc68863ea954f4822ff54/master/w_768%2Cc_limit/clinic_wheeltappersandshunters.jpg

Hear ye, hear ye! Roll up, roll up! Welcome to Wheeltappers and Shunters! After an unprecedented seven year break, Clinic, Liverpool’s cherished post-punk pop experimentalists return with album number eight, released on May 10th, by Domino. The unusual name is taken from the long-forgotten 1970s ITV variety show The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, compered by Bernard Manning, which recreated the smoky, boozy atmosphere of Northern working men's clubs for a sofa-bound audience.

“It’s been a pisstake thing between us for quite a few years,” reveals Ade Blackburn, Clinic spokesman, of the show that the album title references. “Whenever we’d talk about a song sounding too ‘cabaret’ or too nice, we’d say, ‘That’s a bit Wheeltappers and Shunters’.

This album is neither a celebration nor a denigration of the culture of the era in which Blackburn and his collaborator-in-chief, Hartley, grew up. “It’s a satirical take on British culture - high and low,” explains Blackburn. “It fascinates me that people look back on the 1970s as the glory days. It’s emerged that there was a darker, more perverse side to that time. When you look back on it now it was quite clearly there in mainstream culture.”

The first track to be shared from Wheeltappers and Shunters is ‘Rubber Bullets’, fifties rock’n’roll is the order of the day as Blackburn grunts “Neanderthal” over a twanging rockabilly guitar riff à la Scotty Moore.

The album was recorded last year in founding band member Hartley's Liverpool studio, before they brought in Dilip Harris (King Krule, Sons Of Kemet, Mount Kimbie) to mix it. “We thought it felt right to make a fun, dancefloor album in these dark and conservative times,” Blackburn continues. Fun, sure, but this is Clinic – their brand of fun oozes with menace.

The Great Britain that Clinic are evoking is not that ancient, bucolic past of village green cricket, half a mild and hanky-waving Morris Dancers that many seem so determined that the country should return to, but a rather more sleazy past. Clinic’s reverie is for a time when Blackpool was the pleasure capital of the kingdom and the public was kept entertained by travelling circuses and the dirty glamour of the funfair; tacky end of the pier merriment and enforced fun at Butlins; when bell-ringing town criers bellowed their nonsensical broadsides into the ether.

For most bands about to enter their third decade as an entity the well would be running dry, but eight albums in and Clinic still retain the ability to surprise. Clocking in at just over 28 minutes, Wheeltappers and Shunters is an absolute blast, rich in detail and sonic intrigue, those precious minutes stuffed with ideas. “We’d released albums like clockwork every two years, so it seemed natural to have a break,” Blackburn reveals. “It allowed everyone to do some quite oddball stuff, away from Clinic. I think we all wanted a bit more freedom.”

Additionally, Clinic have announced they will play BBC’s 6 Music Festival in Liverpool later this month.

Tracklisting:

1. Laughing Cavalier

2. Complex

3. Rubber Bullets

4. Tiger

5. Ferryboat of the Mind

6. Mirage

7. D.I.S.C.I.P.L.E

8. Flying Fish

9. Be Yourself/Year of the Sadist

10. Congratulations

11. Rejoice!

12. New Equations at the Copacabana

Source: http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/news/05-03-19/clinic-announce-new-album-wheeltappers-and-shunters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F4Dns9KHYw

Not feeling very enthusiastic after listening to that.

Sounds just like 'Seamless Boogie Woogie,' ; the 'ha ha ha hee hee' bit oof.

I feel like it's baked in with Clinic at this point that 20%-40% of the songs on each album will be duplicates of songs from the last album.

Will almost surely still get this bc I am hungry for new Clinic product.

I've been on a Clinic binge.

'Falstaff' on Winchester Cathedral is incredible. 'WDYYB" is real underrated.

Looking forward to the new one ,even if it's all rehashes. They just have that sound, y'know.

Winchester Cathedral was the first one of theirs I didn't love all the way through, but also contains some of my fav tunes of theirs - 'Falstaff' is one of their best songs, and I I rate 'Majestic #2' and 'Home' pretty high as well.

Reviews for the new one are looking promising so far.

https://www.google.com/amp/theartsdesk.com/new-music/cd-clinic-%25E2%2580%2593-wheeltappers-and-shunters%3famp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=628FKUbzT7M

i dig this song

is the rest of this album worth hearing

I'd say so, if the idea of a keyboardless 90s-guitar-band version of Clinic appeals. Iirc it's not immediate or weird as the early Clinic stuff, but there are some tunes where you can hear the basics of their sound falling into place. I remember the clear standout tracks for me were "Funky Hospital", which prefigures "Porno", and "All the Guests Smile So Sweetly", both of which would have fit perfectly onto Internal Wrangler.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/09/clinic-wheeltappers-and-shunters-album-review-domino

Sounds excellent.

This certainly feels like a logical continuation of the work they did on the Free Reign album, particularly the sequel produced/mixed by OPN.

I feel they rely a bit too much on one very samey bassline, the one you can hear on 'Laughing Cavalier.'

It ended up being much stranger than I expected.

Glad Clinic are back.

I think the time away has done them good. Or maybe it’s done me good? It still sounds like the same old Clinic but I welcome it. Enjoying this so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjwOykOXPoQ

New song “Fine Dining” certainly sounds like Clinic and I’m ok with that. No one else sounds like Clinic! To this day!? To this day. Sounds a bit more like their Higher Authorities LP, actually.

Always happy to see them return.

Down to a duo now.

Perhaps that’s why it’s sounding like Higher Authorities? I recall that was just two of the group. Not sure who, specifically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVXgClBmvU0

The Higher Authorities LP is one of the highlights of Clinic world. I hope the rest of the new album gives me that vibe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEgEHz_e0rI

To add to that, new album is also called Fantasy Island and is due out October 22nd!

Nice

finally got around to picking up the Higher Authorities LP recently (tons of copies for sale on US Discogs for $7 or less, must not have been a big seller, sad lol) and have been loving it, regret that i slept on it for so long

Loving the new album. The closing track sounds like Woo gone psych rock. I am going to enjoy getting to know this one.

Imho, maybe their best since the first first. Absolutely their strangest and creepiest album. this things wicked. It’s a shame they lost two members, but Ade has picked up some great tricks.

i always forget about this band. they were the first "indie" thing i ever got into i think. i bought walking with thee in 8th grade after seeing the video on moby's MTV2 show. no interest in ever listening to anything else they've done. this post sounds like a sad youtube comment

They’re pretty great. I guess they have a few pretty forgettable albums, but they’ve been on a good run for several years now.

Dull live. I lost interest after a show. Dunno if they were always that boring on stage. Would’ve been around the album with the sunny looking cover.

Their image was 17 years ahead of its time.

i feel like i read that they used to be really good live, like surprisingly loud and aggressive. if i'm remembering right they'd play stuff really fast (?)

A lot of what I enjoy of their recent material is the mix and production. That doesn’t really translate too well live, so indeed you are left with a lot of samey songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzUk6Modd8E

No way they can pull this off live.

i feel like i read that they used to be really good live, like surprisingly loud and aggressive. if i'm remembering right they'd play stuff really fast (?)

i saw them around 2003 and it was one of the best sets ive ever seen, fierce and feral and weird, and yeah it sounded like they attacked every song at double speed. ten years later later i saw them in the same city in a much less crowded venue and it was a pretty low-energy affair.

yeah I saw them in 1998 or 99 and they RULED and again in 2010 or 2011 and they SUCKED.

Refractions in the rain sounds like Nick Nicely without the tunes tbh

Eh, I think it’s both catchy and love the weird vocal effects & mixing on the track. Never heard Nick Nicely as far as I’m aware, to be fair.

oh, you should really take a listen to this comp
https://m.soundcloud.com/nick-nicely/sets/psychotropia-2

I find it a bit harkening and impressive considering that rock music has moved into the side that bands like Clinic and Mastodon (from another thread bump) have been going this long and mostly with the same members. These bands are like 20 years and still going and it makes me feel bad that like with Clinic that I have only heard two of their records or not checked out with Mastodon in a decade.

I listened to 'Walking with Thee' for the first time in over a decade earlier this year and thought it was still pretty ace.

There is just not enough time when you get down to it.

Haven’t listened to them in ages but curious about new Fantasy Island album and especially their cover of Ann Peebles “Can’t Stop the Rain”.

I saw them a few times in the mid 2000s and thought they were pretty great. They can be samey but with their short punchy numbers I don't mind. The longer meandering stuff leaves me cold sometimes.

I talked with the singer's girlfriend at a pub in Liverpool once. Apparently he is a huge Springsteen fan.

Last couple are full of punchier Clinic albums. I tell ya, folks are sleeping on the new one. It's good.

Clinic numbers, I should say.

I type like five words too fast these days.

On my first listen in a week. I still think it's great. Shame the world's kind of moved on from Clinic. I like them. I hope Ade keeps at it. The menacing kitsch is doing it for me. That "I Can't Stand the Rain" cover is a Clinic catalog highlight.

Clinic is a band that never got worse but also never got better. The new album is great, though ranking anything beyond their first two or three is just a matter of degrees.

I think that sums it up well. I do hear some promising new forks in the road on the last two at least.

I like this new one a lot! I get a Kraftwerk vibe from "Refractions".