Clinic – “Laughing Cavalier” Video

Clinic – “Laughing Cavalier” Video

The bizarre and truly unique British indie band Clinic became a minor critical sensation with their 2000 debut Internal Wrangler, so according to the 20-year nostalgia cycle, it’s just about time for the group to make some kind of comeback in the popular imagination. And right on time, they’re back this spring with their first album in seven years, Wheeltappers And Shunters. Upon the release of lead single “Rubber Bullets,” my colleague Tom Breihan summed up Clinic’s sound as “fizzy, krautrock-addled garage-pop,” which is about as good a description of their oddball charm as I’ve seen. If you’re not familiar with what they do, they’ve handily provided a second dose of the new album today to demonstrate.

“Laughing Cavalier” is a great showcase for Abe Blackburn’s whimpering narration and his bandmates’ disorienting psychedelic post-punk. Clinic stomp and stutter through two and a half hallucinatory minutes, and at one exceptionally goofy part Blackburn sings, “Ha ha ha, he he he, ho ho ho, do as you please.” Think of it as, like, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard if they’d been raised on Peel sessions.

Amplifying the disorientation is an animated video by Joseph May, which you can watch below.

Wheeltappers And Shunters is out 5/10 on Domino. Pre-order it here.

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