I thought hard on my first pick for Classic, a feature focused on remembering great albums that may have been forgotten. First experiences are always special in a way, which is why I had to get this right. Browsing for bands, I found many good choices, but not any good first choices. Then I saw it - an album I used to love - lingering before my eyes. I remembered a bunch of crazy guys in doctor scrubs.

Clinic's debut album, Internal Wrangler, is without a doubt their best. The detached, morbid "Distortions" slithers into the listener's very soul. "2nd Foot Stomp" is a raucous party. "DJ Shangri-La" is a creative amalgam of beeps, organ, trains, and birds, leading into the shifting and bizarre gibberish of "The Second Line." "Goodnight Georgie," a quiet and sad song, is just right for ending one of the best albums of 2000.

Walking with Thee and Winchester Cathedral both came to follow, yet neither one sufficed the hype of an Internal Wrangler sequel. And this leaves a very important question - where are they now? As it happens, Clinic is working on their fourth studio album. It is with a heavy heart that I wish them to succeed, but I can't deny my doubts - at least their end result is, if not good, always interesting.

Tracklist for new album:

family
animal/human
gideon
harvest (within you)
tusk (album version)
paradise
children of kellogg
if you could read your mind
jigsaw mind (album version)
interlude
the new seeker
visitations

posted by Kip Summers  # 6:38 AM 1 comments