Clinic is what Nirvana might have become, had Kurt Cobain studied The Seeds rather than the Meat Puppets. Vocalist Ade Blackburn sings in a similarly apathetic, mush-mouthed tone, but is mainly surrounded by loose garage rock jams - including wailing harmonica during “Tomorrow” - instead of bludgeoning grunge guitars. But whereas garage was/is all about scoring chicks or drugs or both, Clinic is vaguely philosophical, lyrically. Blackburn sings, “Memories for a lifetime/Memories are all your own” during “Memories” as though he’s trying to prevent someone else from ever forgetting him. One of this disc’s coolest blasts is “Free Not Free,” which alternates between being a soft Dionne Warwick ballad and a fuzz guitar workout. It even finds room for groovy flute work. Although Blackburn rarely sings any angry words, he always sounds angry. And it’s not entirely clear if this is a genetic blessing or curse. Clinic revs up the rhythms to punk/garage speed during “Shopping Bag,” a song that somehow intersperses crazy, jazz saxophone. It’s hard to figure out if “Shopping Bag” is going for speed or weirdness, but in the end accomplishes each of these goals. So, is Clinic a noisy art band, or an arty noise band? Who knows? But when Clinic commands, Do It!, it certainly does it - whatever it is.
-- Dan MacIntosh [April 19, 2008]
