If anything, Clinic is consistently weird. Hardly pigeonholed with one definable sound, the Liverpool quintet has peppered its soundscape for the past 11 years with blues, garage rock, punk, psychedelia, surf rock, and echoes of doo-wop and '60s girl-group pop. It's that menagerie of sounds that has given the band its signature melting pot of styles in all its fuzzy and distorted glory, with singer Ade Blackburn's hissing, lispy vocals always at the fore. On its fifth album in eight years, "Do It!," Clinic culls together that sound and spices it with a more melodic twist through its carnival of organs, crunchy guitars, stepthump drumming, and spooky backing vocals. No song is longer than three minutes and 30 seconds, and the band seems to be on a mission to get in, do it, and get out. It's that attitude that keeps Clinic a fixture, with an unsettling, enjoyable addition to its repertoire to boot. [Michael Williams]
Clinic performs at Paradise Rock Club on Friday, with Shearwater and Wild Light opening at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 at ticketmaster.com.
Essential: "Tomorrow"
