Clinic

Clinic stands among independent music's most singular and enigmatic groups, weaving sounds spanning multiple eras into unexpected combinations. Within any track, echoes of the Seeds' gritty garage rock, the Velvet Underground's steady drive, Suicide's detached electronic throb, Ennio Morricone's cinematic Western tension, or Augustus Pablo's atmospheric dub may surface. Paired with Ade Blackburn's biting delivery and the Liverpool-based group's habit of performing in surgical masks, these elements produced a singular identity and aesthetic that evolved in understated ways across each release. With 2000's Internal Wrangler, Clinic foregrounded the unpolished oddity of its approach before highlighting greater refinement on 2002's cool-toned Walking with Thee. In subsequent work the band delved into folk on 2006's Visitations, '60s pop on 2010's Bubblegum, and experimental electronics on 2012's Free Reign, each time achieving results that felt both unanticipated and seamless. Though accomplishments accumulated—shared stages with Radiohead and a Grammy nomination—Clinic stayed apart from mainstream currents via the biting political observations of 2019's Wheeltappers and Shunters and the hazy disco of 2021's Fantasy Island.

The group formed in 1997 after longtime associates Ade Blackburn (vocals/guitars/keyboards) and Jonathan Hartley (guitars/keyboards) departed their prior outfit, Pure Morning. They completed the new lineup by adding Brian Campbell (bass/flute/vocals) and Carl Turney (drums/piano/vocals). Building on punk and garage-rock foundations, the musicians incorporated keyboards sourced from flea markets and jumble sales, a practice evident on the debut EP I.P.C. Subeditors Dictate Our Youth. Issued on the band's own Aladdin's Cave of Golf imprint, the record placed ninth in John Peel's Festive 50 singles tally for 1997. The following year Clinic released the similarly well-regarded singles "Cement Mixer" and "Monkey on My Back." A subsequent bidding war led the group to Domino Records in 1999, drawn by the label's eclectic roster and independent ethos. Clinic's initial Domino offering, that year's The Second Line EP, saw its title track reach number 24 on the U.K. Indie Singles Chart and gain widespread notice through U.K. Levi's Jeans advertisements; the track also featured on the band's widely praised May 2000 debut album Internal Wrangler. Produced over more than a year and, like earlier releases, self-financed, the album climbed to number 12 on the U.K. Albums Chart and number 25 on the U.K. Indie Albums Chart. The singles "The Return of Evil Bill" and "Distortions" both entered the Top 20 of the U.K. Indie Singles Chart, while a reissue of "The Second Line" reached number 56 on the U.K. Singles Chart.

Following appearances at Scott Walker's Meltdown and All Tomorrow's Parties festivals plus a tour alongside Radiohead, Clinic re-entered the studio in 2001. Captured in under a month, February 2002's Walking with Thee delivered a more open, atmospheric rendering of the group's sound. It reached number 133 on the U.K. Albums Chart and number 20 on the U.K. Indie Albums Chart, with singles "Come Into Our Room" and the title track also landing in the Top 20 of the U.K. Indie Singles Chart. In the United States the album peaked at number 29 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.

After Walking with Thee's success, Clinic adopted a contrasting method for its next album. The band pursued a looser, near-demo aesthetic on Winchester Cathedral, released in August 2004 and reaching number 29 on the U.K. Indie Albums Chart; single "The Magician" climbed to number 11 on the U.K. Indie Singles Chart. For the fifth full-length the group reunited with Gareth Jones, who had mixed Internal Wrangler and who assisted in giving October 2006's Visitations a directness reminiscent of early Clinic recordings. The album attained number 47 on the U.K. Indie Albums Chart and yielded two Top Ten U.K. Indie Singles Chart entries, "Harvest" and "If You Could Read Your Mind." In June 2007 the band released the B-sides compilation Funf. Clinic then returned to psych and garage-rock inclinations on Do It!, a self-produced collection that peaked at number 42 on the U.K. Indie Albums Chart after its April 2008 arrival.

The group shifted direction again on October 2010's Bubblegum, enlisting producer John Congleton to shape its softer, chamber-pop-inflected tone. The following April the band issued the covers EP Ladies Night—containing a rendition of Man 2 Man's "Male Stripper"—as a Record Store Day exclusive. On the subsequent album Clinic executed one of its most pronounced stylistic pivots. Self-produced and incorporating mixes by Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin, November 2012's Free Reign merged experimental electronics shaped by Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra with psychedelia and free jazz. The rapport with Lopatin proved so fruitful that the producer supplied a further remix edition titled Free Reign II in March 2013.

After Free Reign's release Clinic entered a period of inactivity. During the hiatus Blackburn and Hartley launched Higher Authorities, a side project allowing deeper exploration of dub than Clinic had permitted. The duo's debut album Neptune, featuring collaborations with legendary dub producer Adrian Sherwood, appeared in April 2016. That May, Clinic re-emerged for a performance with John Cale at his Liverpool presentation of the Velvet Underground's classic album The Velvet Underground & Nico. In May 2019 the band returned with its eighth album, Wheeltappers and Shunters. Named after a 1970s British variety television program, the record paired some of Clinic's most direct songwriting with satirical commentary on politics and nostalgia. It reached number 33 on the U.K. Indie Albums Chart, marking the group's first appearance there in over a decade. Shortly after Wheeltappers and Shunters appeared, Clinic—now operating as the duo of Blackburn and Hartley—began work on new material. Drawing inspiration from Kid Creole and the Coconuts, the Human League, and other 1980s pop acts, October 2021's Fantasy Island presented a brighter, more pop-oriented iteration of the band's sound.