Clinic burst on to an unsuspecting music scene in mid 1998 with a baffling array of home-recorded psychedelic discs cut on their own "Alladin's Cave of Golf" record label, appearing in all publicity shots with surgical gowns and face masks on, staring out of the publicity shots at the curious ... Read review
Advantages: Eclectic, unpredictable, adventurous, one classic rare single included Disadvantages: A couple of dud instrumental B-sides
Clinic burst on to an unsuspecting music scene in mid 1998 with a baffling array of home-recorded psychedelic discs cut on their own "Alladin's Cave of Golf" record label, appearing in all publicity shots with surgical gowns and face masks on, staring out of the publicity shots at the curious listener. This first album, released last year, is a compilation of all the self-released material on one CD.
"Clinic" contains one ... ...deceptively calm introduction.
Elsewhere, Clinic provide us with a couple of dubious B-side instrumentals, an excellent two-pence budget steal off the Pixies with "DP", and the wonderous "IPC Sub-Editors Dictate Our Youth", which manages to combine stomping rhythms with squawking psychedlia. True, the origins of their sound owe a great debt to the Velvet Underground, but the vocals are urgent and sound as if they are being ... more
Clinic burst on to an unsuspecting music scene in mid 1998 with a baffling array of home-recorded psychedelic discs cut on their own "Alladin's Cave of Golf" record label, appearing in all publicity shots with surgical gowns and face masks on, staring out of the publicity shots at the curious listener. This first album, released last year, is a compilation of all the self-released material on one CD. "Clinic" contains one bona-fide indie classic in the garage surf rattle and slide of "Cement Mixer", which has to be heard to be believed and thus far remains their greatest recorded work. All sliding guitars, thrashing rumbles and ever-rising protesting vocals, it manages to be unnerving, exciting and almost incomprehensible. Imagine a melody rising like an elastic band to snap and exploding into feedback and crackles at the tail end, and you're almost there. It peaks and peaks until it can go no further, even ripping off the staccato "ah ah" vocal sound of Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" cheekily at the start as a deceptively calm introduction. Elsewhere, Clinic provide us with a couple of dubious B-side instrumentals, an excellent two-pence budget steal off the Pixies with "DP", and the wonderous "IPC Sub-Editors Dictate Our Youth", which manages to combine stomping rhythms with squawking psychedlia. True, the origins of their sound owe a great debt to the Velvet Underground, but the vocals are urgent and sound as if they are being delivered through gritted teeth (or possibly a surgical mask?) and the sound of the collective influences of this band creates something exciting in a presently unadventurous guitar-based scene. The CD looks cheap and cheerful, and to a certain extent sounds like the former, but there's beauty in this low-budget concoction.
Advantages: great un known band Disadvantages: sometimes a bit slow
...you catch the new band Clinic at Glastonbury or see them with radiohead this week? Clinic is my favourite new band. They play a wildly psychotic mix of keyboards and guitar vaguely sounding like some kind of sixties pyschobilly or crazed movie soundtrack. And you can dance to it! Their new single is called Evil Bill, which is a full on teenage assault to your ears...a little of my generation is cheekily hidden on this one which is the best one on ...
suzanna 07.07.2000
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Advantages: Some brief interludes of musical originality Disadvantages: Lyrics banal and uninteresting
?Visitations? - Clinic?s fourth full-length album release - is unfortunately going to do nothing to help their already-marginalized status in the ever-widening field of post-punk indie rock. At the release of their debut effort in 2000, they were critically acclaimed as an experimental yet accessible take on their punk influences. Likened to such greats as Sonic Youth and The Velvet Underground, it seemed they could do no wrong ? they were a favourite with the late John Peel and even supported Radiohead on a UK tour. But every subsequent release since then has focussed more and more on the worst aspects of their debut, turning out endless versions of the same guitar-driven thrashing monotony, with this newest album being no exception.
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Advantages: Immensely powerful, some great riffs and grooves Disadvantages: Not a lot of variation between songs
complexity of later Origin releases is less prevalent here, although the standard of musicianship is still hugely impressive. Simply, the album offers a whirlwind of non-stop pummelling from start to finish, suggestive of an inhabited planet under constant and relentless bombardment from an endless shower of meteorites.
The riffing is simplistic and repetitive, but extremely fast and in perfect unison with the equally clinical drumming. The term 'clinical' is rather appropriate for the album as whole in fact, given that it sounds cold, alien and mechanical, in a way that is similar to, say, Decapitated album 'The Negation'. It manages to combine this clinical approach with the fat, chuggy grooves evident in Deicide's debut, whilst it's dense and relentless nature will appeal to fans of Suffocation.
Whilst the tracks are very similar, there ...
Advantages: ..if you like the Velvet Underground, & you should! Disadvantages: insanity
you just have to love this band.
Any band who can appear on stage dressed in full surgeon gear & masks & then create such a bizzare mish-mash of 60s Garage meets Ray Manzarek having a breakdown meets the Velvet Underground is okay by me.
I first discovered Clinic on the Evening Session (like most bands) or maybe it was Peel, with their wonderful early single "Monkey on my Back" (see album 1 Clinic - "Clinic"), a deranged Hammond stomp resembling the likes of Gallon Drunk or Jonathan Fire*eater (no bad thing). It prompted me to buy the first album, a pure delight of noise & insanity.
"Internal Wrangler" is much more polished, a mellower affair by whole, with some obvious exceptions still. A lot of it reminds me of the 3rd Velvet Underground LP (the one with "Candy Says", "Pale Blue Eyes", "Stephanie Says" etc., on it); in fact, there ...
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