Clinic - Winchester Cathedral (Domino, 2004)

Clinic
Winchester Cathedral
Domino
2004

Rating: 7 doctors taking communion out of 10

I’m not going to lie to you – if you’ve heard a previous Clinic album, then you should know that their new album “Winchester Cathedral” doesn’t really veer far from the course they set forth in their previous two albums “Internal Wrangler” and “Walking with Thee”. That said, it’s still some of the most intriguing and original stuff being put out these days by a band so close to the mainstream. Comparisons to Gang of Four, Wire, and Suicide still seem fitting (and thankfully so), but the description of them having “garage rock-like tendencies” doesn’t really hold up on this album as much. They’ve replaced many of the more upbeat numbers with something a bit more mellow and reverential, almost as if they were writing church music (possibly for the cathedral that the album is named after?), but never quite breaking free of the mold that makes the band so distinctive and instantly recognizable. Clinic may not be for everyone, but you’re doing yourself a world of disservice if you don’t even give them a shot – and this new record is as just a good a place to start as any. If nothing else, you’ll not find another group anywhere else in rock-n-roll that utilizes the melodica as well as Clinic – what more could you possibly want?