by Radhika Takru.
Clinker are a friendly little band from London. They warmed the cockles of my stony heart with their sweetly polite message directing me to their affectionately maintained MySpace that they clearly make the effort to update with the utmost care. They're palpably excited about the release of their album Thru' The Fly Machine - a freely downloadable collection of a dozen hazily stoned electronic tunes.
'Hallucination Generation' - a track released earlier as an EP - is a peek into Jeff Spicoli's kaleidoscopic brain. Opening with a young woman recounting her first LSD experience (taken over a dose of marijuana, might I add), it spirals into an infinite loop of fuzzy speculation: 'Was she hiiiiiiiigh?... why so hiiiiiiigh?' and throws in some eerie subliminal pushes in the direction of a 'sacred mushroom' - something that makes perfect sense in the context of this trippy little ditty (but looks a bit wanky in print form - oh dear). Close on its stoner heels is the similarly spaced out (probably on 'shrooms) 'Let's Go Out and Get Fucked' which totters about unsteadily on its hippie toe-tips - a singalong in a sunny park with supportive hand claps keeping the beat.
Don't listen to this album on shuffle as you then run the risk of 'Long Way Round' being the first song you hear. Totally ear-friendly, it's not that it suffers from a lack of quality. It's just that this track is cleverly squeezed into just the right spot on the album to give your brain cells a bit of a jolt and make sure you're still paying attention. It is much more old-school than its counterparts in that it makes use of 'regular' instruments and sounds more like a 'normal' song - mellow, semi-acoustic with minimal manufactured effects, it demonstrates Clinker's ability to move beyond stoned hippies bouncing around a sunlit meadow to stoned lovers soaking up the stars in a moonlit meadow.
In fact, the second half of the album is a bit of an abrupt change from the first as it wades dazedly into the droneage territory it had initially been avoiding. 'Jump in the Fire' is a melodious, yet suicidal, zombie-chant: 'Let's all jump in the fire' (sung to the tune of "braiiiiiiiins" but only more pleasant). 'A Time, A Place' is not composed of the most brilliant of lyrics, but it is definitely a bobble-headed nod to a dreamy Spiritualized-Slowdive crossbreed. Static-infused closer 'So We Say' - with the shoegaze solidarity similar to that which laces Slowdive's 'Altogether' - builds itself up to such an anthemic climax that by the time the final recited-by-an-army chorus hits, you have yourself a 'Well, it's about time!' moment.
Give Clinker a listen if only to bask in their enthusiasm and genuine love of music. Their last.fm bio may state the fairly generic: "[Clinker] have to make music, it’s in their DNA. Everyday is spent creating. It’s their life," but they really are one of the most dedicated bands I have ever come across. They have all my support, and it'll cost you nothing to give them a listen since they have happily offered this album to anyone who wants to give it a try for no charge at all. Get it from their official site.
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