Cliks return with surprise, swagger
Rock
The Cliks Dirty King
Tommy Boy
ESSENTIAL “Henry’’
The cover of the Cliks’ second album is a shot of frontman Lucas Silveira hunched in the corner of a boxing ring, scowl on his face, crown on his head, and a pair of red scars where his breasts used to be. “I can do the dishes/ And I could climb your walls/ And I’ll clean out my stitches with rubbing alcohol,’’ he sneers over a grimy surf riff on the title track of “Dirty King.’’
It’s a swaggering song, a bravely visceral chronicle of Silveira’s odyssey, and a like-minded extension of the Cliks’ prickly 2007 debut. But as a whole, this is a surprising album. Where a listener might reasonably expect “Dirty King’’ to be a still more forceful expression of the transgendered singer and songwriter’s masculinity, the music here is actually more nuanced, more varied, and in places poignant and tender.
“Not Your Boy’’ and “Red and Blue’’ plumb classic pop, delicately ornamented “Emily’’ leaps into nearly whimsical theatricality, and disc closer “Animal Farm’’ burns and aches like a vintage FM power ballad. Silveira isn’t a masterful lyricist, but there’s some searching, full-bodied songcraft here. And after a run of lineup changes, the trio, which includes drummer Morgan Doctor and bassist Jen Benton, has found the elusive sweet spot between scrappy and seasoned. (See: “Henry’’) Silveira’s singing, too, has blossomed.
It’s as if the closer he gets to the man inside, the easier it is for him to embrace the multitudes inside us all. (Out tomorrow) JOAN ANDERMAN 