Customer Reviews

Internal Wrangler

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

In the opinion of millions (that's Bill Millions, my window-cleaner) every pop kid and his bag of glue should be heading down to their local audio emporium and investing in the dynamic and pulsating Clinic album; 'Internal Wrangler'.

It's statement is smooth anger and despondent glee. Clinic have forged something adventurous and darkly entertaining, starting with the execution-worthy political incorrectness of 'Voodoo Wop' through the demented psycho-billy(literally) 'Return of Evil Bill', past the Dalek control-panel of the title-track and then....oh come on, you didn't think it would be that easy!?

What I will reveal is that 'IW' (and that has to be deliberate - I refuse to believe otherwise) is some kind of hippopotamus-insane electro rockabilly, with smatterings of funk and industrial. It hints at spiralling menace but tempers it with a camp yokel vocal, rather like 'Deliverance' set aboard the Enterprise. A stack-synth instead of a banjo, a drum-machine instead of a musket. In other word's it doesn't quite bite, even though it snaps it's teeth often, and close.

'IW' discloses it's secrets to it's lucky listeners without leaving ANY clues. Clinic being yet another group I know absolutely nothing about, and yet more who have virtually blank sleeves. No bio's for Clinic, I don't think we'd like what we read...I think they drink moonshine and eat vermin, kill 'gators for clothing and warmth, burn fish for salt-ash. There nothing to which Clinic wont stoop, no degeneracy too vile...

Still, onwards and upwards eh? 'Internal Wrangler', beefed up by the crick and all that, is a perfect role-model for them kids...

I cannot articulate what Internal Wrangler does to me,but I would love nothing more than to introduce Clinic to anyone who doesn't know what they're missing."Distortions" gives me shivers everyday.Beautiful...

Like many in the US, the first album I heard from Liverpool's Clinic was Walking With Thee, and, well, it didn't really do much for me. I thought it was interesting but overall not that great. Luckily, a friend of mine really liked it and ran out to pick up their first album, Internal Wrangler. With a sour look on his face, he handed it to me and said something like, "it's way too raw and weird, if you like it you can keep it". Hmmm, that sounds more up my alley, I gave it a spin and immediately dug it!

From the opening of "Voodoo Wop", with it's buzzing insects, relentlessly pounded bongos and motorik beat, I was down. The next two songs were some of the best garage punk I had heard in a very long time. I thought, man, these guys sound like they live in the cell next door to The Cramps in some kind of rock'n'roll insane asylum!

From there it just got stranger, I heard echos of dub, a gently strummed 50's style ballad, demented yet danceable trance-blues (is that a genre?), these guys were all over the map! (In hindsight, as they've released several albums since this, they came out of the gates pretty much fully formed, evolving their sound very slowly from release to release).

There's a really dark atmosphere that runs throughout their music as well. At times the singer reminds me of a young Daffy Duck, psychotically yelping his way through a tune, then crooning softly through clenched teeth during the next (and believe it or not it actually sounds quite beautiful!). Instrumental "Hippy Death Suite" is a quick stab of surf-punk, I picture a scene from a movie that doesn't exist, where bikers are beating the crap out of some flower children (don't be alarmed though, there's more than a little psychedelia sprinkled throughout this music). Then there's "Distortions", a simple vintage drum machine and organ ballad that's quite possibly the prettiest song of their career (until the very end, when it morphs into lo-fi techno with a squealing clarinet solo!).

This and their fourth album, Visitations, stand as the highlights so far in what is turning out to be a fine catalog from a very original band.

A very good cd. If you like Radiohead's Kid A, minmalist post punk alternative or even the more recent rock/pop indie scene, I would recommend this album. I especially like the Velvet Underground cover: distortions!

It's hard to have a debut sound so innovative. Well this art/punky/indierockish foursome can make all songs completely loveable. You can't get enough of ade blackburn's voice. it's very different. "the second line" is a must-listen, darkly catchy.

it's one of my favorite albums, and i can't see myself ever tiring of it!

I haven't been this excited by a new group since the first time I heard "Unknown Pleasures." Much ink has been spread in the Brit music press about the eclectic influences lurking in these muddy mixes. I'll put my two cents in. Methinks I hear T-Rex, early Sparks, The Stranglers (distorted organ in the front of the mix), Augustus Pablo and early Gang of Four (gratuitous use of the melodica), and the 1960's hits of Phil Spector (infectious pop hooks within the aforementioned fat, dirty mix). The stand out tracks here are T.K. and 2nd Foot Stomp. I am reasonably certain that my neighbors must be sick of hearing them by now. How about it? With brilliant recent offerings from The Strokes, White Stripes, and Clinic, I am convinced that, as far as pop music and rock n' roll is concerned, we are in the midst of an astonishing (and long overdue) renaissance. We haven't had it this good since 1977-1980.

Got a definite weakness for VU-alikes. Interesting rhythym section -- the title track's my favorite so far, and I also like "Distortions," which cops "Pale Blue Eyes" really well. I'm interested to hear what they'll do next.