Good? Bad? You decide.
As Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap once said, “there's a fine line between clever and stupid”.
When it comes to artistic offerings is actually quite an apt and suitable observation. If something is undeniable noise then who is to say whether it has merit or if it should be dismissed as some poor fool's failure to grasp his muse and create something beautiful. The Velvet Underground have forged a legend of amazing records and unquestionable influence forged largely on repetitive, tuneless bashing of instruments, loose musicianship and out of key singing. So why isn't everything that does this an instant classic?
“Do It!” is a good case in point of that “fine line”. On one hand it is a daring body of work that challenges the listener with odd production, out of tune guitars and unsettling instrumentation. But on the other it sounds like a 14 year old after half an our with a Moog synthesizer, who thinks that, as they managed to switch the thing on, everything that comes hence is automatic genius. The simple, cowardly but essentially honest answer is that it is all a case of personal choice.
In an age where the “too schooled for cool” crowd are slowly edging their way into the mainstream, it is rather hard to remember a time where art rock was a rare and precious term that was saved for the more genuinely interesting bands from this or that musical genre. What Clinic do is claw back some of that integrity and (honestly) breathe some new life into a scene that is quickly becoming maligned. One gets a sense of the urgency that the band are trying to portray. The songs are sweaty and frenetic, sounding like they do perhaps as tuning properly would have made the band loose the moment. There are, hidden away slightly perhaps, some decent enough tunes on “Do It!”. “Emotions” has a proper, hummable harmony and the preceding “”Corpus Christi” has a hook that sticks with you.
But these are rare moments. The majority of the album sounds much like the sunshine of Mika mixed in with the chaos of mid 70s era King Crimson, and is somewhat punishing for it. The opener, “Memories” doesn't muck about in letting you know this, and, for those not prepared, it could turn you off the whole album. But that would be a real shame. What “Do It!” is, if nothing else, is an interesting case in experimentalism, gut feelings and raw emotion. If you get it then it makes for one hell of a listen that will reward you in spades but be warned, if you don't then it will do nothing for you except give you a rather dull headache.