God Save the Clientele (Merge)
The Clientele have been one of the most consistent rock bands over the past 10 years. An indie band in every sense of the word -originally releasing only EPs on vinyl until they combined the greatest from the bunch and formed their first proper release, the heaven-sent Suburban Lights- The Clientele defend their consistency with their latest offering, God Save the Clientele. Their music is similar to what The Beatles would have sounded like if Edgar Allen Poe had been the producer. It's haunting dream-pop. On the track, "Bookshop Casanova", they even offer lyrics that reference the Beatles. But comparisons between the two would prove futile. The Clientele filling rock stadiums seem antithetical to their music, which wraps around memory and nostalgia to such an extent that they seem to be wrestling with the concepts
personally("Isn't life Strange?"). No one produces moody pop music quite like The Clientele. But the distinguishing factor on God Save is that the moody has embraced the light.If I'm driving through the fog, especially at night in California or London -or if it's simply Autumn, then I want The Clientele close by. But God Save the Clientele should serve as an appropriate Summer companion, as they alter things by flipping the pop onto its optimistic, sunny side. The loyal shouldn't worry though, this still very much sounds like The Clientele: there's haunting, idiosyncratic analogies a plenty, and the nostalgia switch is in place: "I realize now that his delicate frame could only have been nourished by medieval foods: turnips, blood sausage, perhaps songbirds roasted in a thin, toxic sauce of mercury" whispers Alaisdair MacLean on "The Dance of the Hours". The Clientele's songs are often webbed in dreams, evoking feelings that seem familiar. On the gorgeous opener, "Here Comes the Phantom", Alaisdair yearns "My heart is playing like a violin/ Sunday and she called again/ All of the dreams that you dream/ I hope that they are all of me". There's not a bad track on this record, thus highlighting their consistency even more. And it's nice to know in a time when music is at battle with itself as bands from every angle try to awe us with some new sound, that there are bands like The Clientele who remain constant - constantly good.
hear: Here Comes the Phantom, Isn't Life Strange?, The Queen of Seville, No Dreams Last Night, Bookshop Casanova, Dreams of Leaving
www.theclientele.co.uk
www.mergerecords.com
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