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Here, their structures adamantly circular and their tunes less catchy but more durable, they make dandy mystagogues on an album that begins inarticulate and attains the nirvana of total nonverbality.
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A band as talented and enjoyable as Clinic should be allowed to distill and advance their sound without getting tarred with the brush of stagnancy.
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What makes Winchester Cathedral stick out amongst their previous works, and make it their best release since Internal Wrangler, is a willingness to explore, albeit briefly, the previously malnourished middle ground between their seemingly two-speed approach.
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Although 'Winchester Cathedral' is quite obviously Clinic doing what they do best, it also represents the sound of a band who've clearly broadened their horizons.
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Though the songs are still Lou Reed-shaped and John Cale-fashioned, this follow-up to the Grammy-nominated Walking With Thee sees the scouse experimentalists embracing a jagged kind of pop.
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Alternative PressThe results are as thrilling as ever. [Oct 2004, p.140]
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New Musical Express (NME)Music as taut, spare and ominous as The Bad Seeds at their most malevolent. [21 Aug 2004, p.49]
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Instead of evolving out of the band's unique style, Clinic has decided to enhance it and deepen it.
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Paste MagazineA brand new bag of impossible shapes, rumbaing in esoteric formation. [#13, p.121]
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Under The RadarThe complete, sublime magic that the band unequivocally showed in their earlier work is a little diluted here. [#7]
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By any other band's standards, Winchester Cathedral would qualify as a strong to very strong effort. However, the feel of sameness prevents the record from surpassing the sum of its parts.
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A strong return to form.
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UncutAnother delirious half-hour of, mainly, mannered asthmatic psychobilly. [Sep 2004, p.95]
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Minor aesthetic gripes aside though, ‘Winchester Cathedral’ is how you and I want Clinic to be.
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Clinic continues to wrap its post-punk jitter around a surprisingly tender core.
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Every new song of theirs could be three old ones, though, and while their drummer can pound out four on the floor, their organ player still can't squeeze out that 97th tear.
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Like the band's first two albums, Winchester Cathedral is solid. But also like its predecessors, the album suffers from the "Hey, didn't I already hear this song?" syndrome.
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One can't shake the feeling that formula is what's really at the heart of the record, and in light of the promise shown by their debut, that lack of fervor and off-the-cuff adventurousness is a difficult shortcoming to ignore.
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Winchester Cathedral may be a transition album, or it may just contain a few curveballs to keep discerning listeners on their toes -- only Clinic knows for certain.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 3
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Mixed: 0 out of 3
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Negative: 0 out of 3
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MatthewSNov 17, 2005
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JesseSOct 18, 2004