Clinic
Winchester Cathedral
(Sony)
With its 2002 disc, Walking with Thee, Liverpool’s Clinic firmly secured the title of the coolest band you never heard of. So why’s it so hard to get excited about this latest disc? The band hasn’t changed its formula, though the early Joy Division basslines, a pinch of Velvet Underground and more than a bit of ’92 Manchester/ Charlatans UK hypernasality is too tempting to resist. But if any band is to succeed, it must be able to build upon its former successes. Not just regurgitate them.
—Dave Hayden
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.