03/30/08
Text: Nik Mercer
Clinic's fifth long-player will be released on Domino Records on April 7. The record is the band's most "humorous" record and was allegedly the most fun to write and record. Their new get ups―Hawaiian T-shirts in lieu of Freemason suits―and brighter cover artwork are indicative of this newfound playfulness. Beneath the surface, though, Clinic is still the same psych-leaning post-punk Clinic, if not also more matured and weathered.
You've reached the 10-year mark and have released five LPs (and a compilation!) over the course of your career as Clinic. How does it feel!? How do you keep going and making music and do you believe you've a sort of legacy now?
We still enjoy making music, that's basically why it's continued. Obviously not for money or conventional acclaim. It's flattering that ten years on people can still like the music. I think it's sad that now bands are only expected or allowed to last for one or two albums. It all seems fickle.
Do It! sounds like your poppiest effort yet to me. You seem to incorporate more digestible and straightforward pop hooks into your otherwise minimalist, gritty psych-pop/post-punk aesthetic ("Free Not Free," "Memories"). Were you deliberately trying to make something a little subtler and accessible for this album?
Yes definitely.we felt it was time to change. I love pop music so it was inspiring to make it more melodic and mellow. It also in a weird way makes the LP more extreme, to have those sharp cut-ups between melody and a raw sound.
On the other hand, though, I went back to "I.P.C. Subeditors Dictate Our Youth," your first released track, and realized that Do It! sounds like a matured return to your roots. How do you respond to that notion?
It's less frantic than songs like "I.P.C. ... " with a lot more room to breathe. But yes, the early singles we made were melodic and quite immediate.
I'm curious about the album artwork and visual component that you've applied to Do It! The cover illustration is more playful; you're now wearing Hawaiian T-shirts instead of Freemason getups -- any concept behind these alterations and developments?
It all went hand in hand with the music being brighter. There's more humor and yes, a playful piss-take side to Do It! and the artwork etc. I much prefer it, if that side is brought out.
What were some of the influences behind Do It!'s creation? Anything different from before?
There are some Motown/soul influences. Things like the Chambers Brothers and Smokey Robinson. As well as Henry Flynt for the more demented blues side.
What was the songwriting, recording, and producing of Do It! like? Everything's approximately the same―no guitar solos, heavy underlying grooves, accenting sharp guitars―but there's a slowness and delicacy to it. How did you tackle this album and was anything noticeably different?
We recorded the LP ourselves and just took it less seriously. Trying more ridiculous ideas. Rather than fill it up with "noise," the delicate side we made sure came out. So i think it's less dense and more fun. It was our most enjoyable album to make.
You've remarked before that you don't really position the band as being contemporary with other British acts. In 2008 is that still the case? How has the community around you changed (if at all)?
I think it does fit with some contemporary U.K. acts but there's far less coverage now of those non-mainstream bands by music papers, radio, and television. It's funny how people in the U.K. media say they loved john peel but seem to have learned nothing from him.
