Confusingly Pride Instilling
Dirty, sweaty and seedy, and that's just the town they're singing about! Clearlake offer an insight into modern urban life; one that is full of rampaging riffs, seething soaring vocals and a grubby bass line that penetrates the soul as everything becomes moulded around a marching drum beat that is like a call to arms. As if this isn't enough, Clearlake throw in a harmonica riff that simply screams rock and oozes such a high quantity of cool that you start to question why it's not a basic requirement for all such tunes. But then 'Neon' is the type of song that makes you ponder a great deal. Sure, it may berate and criticize urban isolation, the fact that it's "been disappointed for so long/ things should be different from now on" really does sum up modern inner-city life and yet when a song roars that "somewhere something wonderful is happening tonight/ so come and stand in line/ underneath the neon sign" it has the bizarre effect of instilling a sense of pride and a sense of camaraderie as such images could be from any town the length and breadth of Britain. Conjuring both pride and depression in one fail swoop, 'Neon' single handily makes you consider committing suicide by eating a dodgy kebab over the sheer hopelessness of it all whilst simultaneously stirring a riotous spirit from deep within. A confusingly brilliant urban anthem.
From a thunderous modern day observation, Clearlake effortlessly cross over into the tenderly evocative 'What's It Like Where You Are' and 'How Long'. Although not gutsy rock affairs like 'Neon', both songs demonstrate that Clearlake can provide more then simply anarchy addled anthems and offer a perfect come down from their riot invoking antics of 'Neon'.