Winchester Cathedral
It would be easy to dismiss Clinic as a novelty act--they insist on appearing in public in surgical scrubs, feature the melodica prominently in all of their songs, and they toured withRadioheadduring the willfully difficultKid Aperiod. But how long does anyone really expect a band that shares its hometown with the Beatles to cruise on gimmicks alone? Clinic's third album, the follow-up to 2002's Grammy-nominatedWalking With Thee, bustles with sharp, angular pop melodies. Sure, it takes some digging to get to, but beneath the eerie keyboards and woozy guitars that form thick storm clouds of noise linger jagged, oddly-titled gems like "The Majestic #2" and "W.D.Y.Y.B."--Aidin Vaziri