Internal Wrangler

Clinic | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 18, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Domino
• ASIN: B00005NKIJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,158 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

From a seedy underworld of gothic malevolence and bad voodoo comes this, Clinic's long-awaited debut album. On Internal Wrangler, these four serious young conceptual post-punkers pull on their emergency-room overalls and go about dissecting the dark underbelly of rock history with a scalpel, sewing it back together in unique malformations. There are knowing references to the addled chug of the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat, the acerbic eclecticism of the Beatles' White Album, and even a dark, serious nod to Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" on the creaking workout of "TK." But really, Internal Wrangler sounds like nothing else past or present--a 30-minute death-rattle of caustic, shrieking garage-punk, interspersed with murky funeral interludes and malevolent post-folk nursery rhymes--even a song called "Hippy Death Suite." Surely, this is a band to kill for. --Louis Pattison

Product Description

From the band that's been invited by Radiohead to support their European Tour, Clinic's debut album 'Internal Wrangler' fleshes out the sound the group crafted on their self-released EPs and adds a few new twists. These songs concentrate on the experimental yet accessible sides of Clinic's sound. 'Internal Wrangler' is a strong debut from one of England's most promising and distinctive indie bands. Clinic's has also received 2 NME 'Singles Of The Week'! A Domino release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the negative reviews--this album is worth every penny, April 21, 2002

By 

J. Rossi (Downers Grove, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Internal Wrangler (Audio CD)

Sometimes when you like something so much that you can't imagine your life without that thing, it's hard to describe exactly *why* you like it so much. That's kind of how it is with me and this album.

In the year 2002 it is hard to any band to sound completely original, but Clinic try and succeed in sounding exactly like nothing else I've heard lately. Clinic take garage psychedelia and early Detroit energy and mix it with punk abandon to make a concoction that sometimes sounds like trashy surf rock ("C.Q." / "Hippy Death Suite" / "Evil Bill") or updated versions of long-lost funky Beatles B-sides ("T.K" / "Internal Wrangler" / "2nd Foot Stomp"). They even try their hand at Joy Division-esque heartache on "Distortions."

Sure the album is short, but there is only one song that I could do without ("DJ Shangri La"), so out of 33 minutes you get 30 minutes of viable material.

When a band is willing to be this ambitious on a debut and succeed with flying colors, you can't help but impressed with the results.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best indie album of 2000, October 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Internal Wrangler (Audio CD)

I first came across Clinic when they supported Radiohead on their three gigs in the summer of 2000. Clinic didn't really manage to "steal the show", but they incontrovertibly appeared like a band that's worth checking out. The utilization of so many instruments & sounds, the rawness of their songs, & mostly their brevity- Something pretty exceptional within the neoalternative British scene (I for instance cannot bear Bent or Elbow- After the first thirty seconds of a song by any of them I always feel like falling asleep, & it's not merely a simile). So, based on the good impression that gig gave me & on "The Second Line", the most wellknown single off of this album (Proportionately of course) I decided to purchase Internal Wrangler. On my first listen I was bewildered by the deliberately archaic artwork (The entire thing looks more like a record than a compactdisc), Ade Blackburn's peculiar vocals & the harkingback instrumentations, which customarily on this album consist on light guitarriffs & what appears to be synths & drummachines from the late 1970's (Could they be jeering the electronic influences virtually every artist/act includes in their songs nowadays? I don't think so, but it sure works well here). The album sorta creeped me out & nearly made me not wanna touch it ever again. However on repeated listens the album opens up, kinda like vintage wine- The tracks, no matter how eccentric & purposefully dated they appear, are all in point of fact compelling, enchanting & on occasion ("Earth Angel", "Distortions", "Goodnight Georgie") inebriating. The eeriness & intermittent abrasiveness of Clinic's hallmark sound manages to spice up what otherwise would've been considered as merely another indie album influenced by 1960's prepunk bands & early twentieth century New Orleans jazz (As the album's artwork also alludes). & let's not forget that splendid brevity again- This album takes merely 31:06 minutes to listen to, so you have nothing to fear about ending up with Grandaddyesque selfindulgence (I seriously can't believe that Clinic will ever record a fifteenminute song with the same line over & over again, merely arranged differently each time it comes). "The Return Of Evil Bill", "Internal Wrangler", "The Second Line", "C.Q.", "T.K.", "Hippy Death Suite" & "2/4" could all be superior demonstrative singles in the British indie scene, kinda like telling the critics "Hey, we can do it much better". & Clinic CAN do it much better so you'll better give them a chance. Who knows, they just might be the next representatives of the genre.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a domestic release for this gem, September 25, 2001

By 

Mikey "soft in the head" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Internal Wrangler (Audio CD)

I picked up all of Clinic's releases on a trip to the UK in 2000, after hearing them on the John Peel show. Their first full album, "Internal Wrangler", is one of the freshest rock releases of the last couple of years. While their influences aren't anything out of the ordinary (you will hear bits of the Velvets, 13th Floor Elevators and Suicide among others), what they do with them certainly is. This is a very dense, beautiful and hypnotic record. Clinic has a fine ear for sound and melody, and makes every second of this record count. I'm sure many listeners will not make it past the off kilter vocal style, which at times has a Peter Lorre quality to it, and that's really a shame, because groups like this don't show up very often. Listen to this one on headphones if you really want to lose yourself.