Clinic - Walking With Thee

It's great, but they sound like they are trying to be Radiohead... it seems like every band that happens to be from Europe and plays atmospheric pop music gets that label slapped on them. It has happened to Muse, Travis, Star Sailor and now Clinic. Not that sounding like Radiohead is a bad thing, but it always seems to be a stab at the bands, almost calling them unoriginal. Americans just need something to compare everything to, I suppose. That being said, Clinic does sound like Radiohead. They write great pop songs. They play around with instrumentation and arrangements to test their audience. They test the listener, asking them to trust what they are doing and always supplying the payoff. Walking With Thee starts off with a pulsing synth tone and piano backbone, followed shortly with a harmonica lead. "I believe in harmony," is the first thing you hear from singer, Ade Blackburn's voice and that is quite obvious throughout the 11-track album. The title track, "Mr.Moonlight" and "Pet Eunoch" are the strongest tracks on the album and the last track, "For the Wars," a 4-minute rock waltz, ranks as one of the top album closers in a long while. [www.cliniconline.org]