Austinist Show Preview: Clinic @ Emo's

Liverpool, England, how we love thee so. You have served the world well for many a century, being an essential port for trade and also during war, providing native delicacies, and being home to one of fútbol’s most successful clubs. And we naturally love the fact that you changed the course of pop music by birthing The Beatles but did not rest on your laurels and continued to enrich our culture by supplying endless incredible acts like Gerry & the Pacemakers, The Merseybeats, The La’s (and Cast), Echo & The Bunnymen, The Zutons, Ladytron, Wah! (Pete Wylie), and The Coral to name a few, a very few that is. And yes, the innovative, noisy, organ fueled concoctions of Clinic also originated on the banks of your River Mersey. Clinic was formed in 1997 by Hartley and Ade Blackburn upon the demise of their previous band Pure Morning. Brian Campbell and Carl Turney joined the ranks shortly afterwards and that line-up remains intact to this day.

Clinic’s first album Internal Wrangler was released in 2000, followed by Walking with Thee in 2002 and Winchester Cathedral in 2004, while Visitations dropped in 2006 (Our review). The band readied the masses for their fifth record by offering the first single “Free Not Free” for free on their official website recently along with a somewhat obscure (for us anyway!) homage to their latest full-length -- “This record is a celebration of the 600th anniversary of The Bristol Charter. A celebration of sheer joy, lapping at your froth. The dog at your hearth, the past to your present. This is it, this is you. Remember, let go of the rail. Let go of the rail. We're ready, upstairs with the winch.” (This was the closest reference we could find!)

You can read our review of 2008’s Do It! and a corresponding interview with Blackburn here. Then join us for a journey through Clinic’s intricate textures and unavoidable drone at Emo’s this Friday. The event is listed on Emo’s official website as “Clinic w/ BBQ” and since no news on any hot, breaking act named BBQ has come through our newswires lately, we can only assume some brisket will be involved. We have confirmed that the supporting act's name is, indeed, BBQ, but that's all we have. Any information is appreciated (leave a comment).

[Clinic MySpace]
[Clinic Official]