Clinic

If you hated 2004’s Winchester Cathedral, you’ll be very happy to hear that Do It! is just as lively as its title suggests. Furthermore — and you might not believe this — the record sounds a little bit different from anything Clinic have ever done. There are no radical changes — the beats remain heavy and entrancing, Ade Blackburn still sounds like a masturbating phone stalker and the tremendous riffs are good-naturedly plundered from a thousand great songs past (even Clinic’s own). But the band have never sounded so awake — while most Clinic songs start with a musical theme that unfolds on its own momentum, these songs are dynamic all the way through while retaining the group’s signature hypnotic quality. Do It! spans the range of genres that Clinic have proven themselves capable in — from post-punk to off-kilter doo-wop — and nails them all, indicating that the band have done some self-reflection. Those who found the last two Clinic records disappointing were just hoping for a return to the upbeat Internal Wrangler. What they got is even better: a record that acknowledges the eerie, subdued route untaken (Winchester) and moves forward with a nod to the records that earned them their fan base.