Clinic have consistently pushed the boundaries of what we'd typically call indie-rock. With their eighth album looming, Wheeltappers and Shunters, the British band have sort of refined their attack in order to offer up one of their most concise and focused records so far. The release, out on Friday via Domino, is bright, sleek, and surprisingly accessible, despite bits that are fairly risky.
The pulsing "Complex" is like early Pulp covering an old disco number, with Genesis P. Orridge whispering dirty nothings in the ear, while the excellent "D.I.S.C.I.P.L.E." takes things even farther afield, flashes of The Fall and Cabaret Voltaire peeking through this one. Elsewhere, "Rubber Bullets" and "Mirage" seem like leftovers from a Mute Records comp. in the early post-punk days, with each number betraying a debt owed to Throbbing Gristle, even if the players here in Clinic are more determined to at least skirt the edges of what's nearly-mainstream. And while lots of Wheeltappers and Shunters is bedsit electronica, the brighter "Laughing Cavaliers" sounds a trifle like something from Go-Kart Mozart, the tune a bigger one, while "Rejoice!" goes one further by adding a faint-glam-stomp to things, shades of The Glitter Band mixed up with bits that echo sides from Gary Numan.
Wheeltappers and Shunters is a fine record, and one that baffles as much as it pleases. And, frankly, I think that's what makes Clinic such an infuriatingly-perverse proposition as a musical act. While they don't seem to be entirely content to live in the land of the avant-garde, Clinic neither seem totally committed to crafting easy-to-love indie-pop. Odd, idiosyncratic stuff, the music of Clinic remains something wonderfully vital.
Wheeltappers and Shunters is out on Friday via Domino.
More details on Clinic via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Rhian Askins]