The Clientele - Best Band Since The Smiths

"Let's leave it at that" ? Ummmmm, no, let's not, but I agree with you about the "way cool" thing.

The Clientele are the best band since The Smiths!

Alasdair Maclean?

I think the Smiths aren't ALL THAT either.

I MEANT DIGRAVINA

I can't take credit for The Smiths/Clientele thread, though I'd almost say I agree with its premise, as long as The Clientele continue down the path highlighted by the Suburban Light collection. I'm not too eloquent this morning, so I hope this next part makes sense… a decent sized group of fans/critics see The Smiths as being among the last of the truly great rock bands, and I frequently find it hard to disagree. (Though I sometimes think a case can be made for The Stone Roses simply on the strength of their debut album, and then there’s My Bloody Valentine) While The Clientele don't seem to have the truly magic energy The Smiths had when they started out, I'm reserving a possible place for them amongst my favorite bands and hoping they continue to release excellent singles/EPs. I'm not sure why some people on ILM have lumped The Clientele in with Belle & Sebastian... it seems too early for a backlash. I’m guessing it’s either not their cup of tea altogether (they can’t give in to quaint charm) or they just haven’t played Suburban Light enough times; I’ll admit that I thought it was near rubbish (like Alex) at first as well, but now it’s one of the most cherished pieces of my CD collection. Still, if The Clientele start passing the mic to every band member and every family member and every distant cousin like B & S, then I'll join the backlash. As of now, I'm happy to have them and I'm enthused by their promise.

I love The Clientele! <-- Using the exclamation point specified in the subject.

Just you wait -- the third album will be nothing but bad reggae and refried boogie and be produced by Glen Ballard.

<--I hope the italics worked. If not, it's a Ned Raggett quote.

Well, I'll take the bad reggae and refriend boogie as long as the sleeve is pretty. It's too early in the morning for me to deal with a Glen Ballard reference... but I will say this... my breakfast has returned to its plate in a more liquid form.

I can't believe this thread has been asleep for 6 years! haven't you people heard God Save The Clientele? it's really really good! "Bookshop Casanova" is some kind of sleepy-eyed disco masterpiece, no? The guitar solo is sooo Santana, duh.

There have been other Clientele threads in the last six years.

For instance - God Save The Clientele - The anticipation thread

My mistake, I must have glanced over in the search. Looks like I have some reading to do...

But your underlying point is right: The Clientele are great (and underappreciated). MacLean is also a very good guitarist, I think.

I don't really think they are underappreciated, considering that certain people follow them around the world on tour as if they were Manchester United or Exeter City.

Not sure that's right... That means that a few people really appreciate them. They should be much bigger than they are, I think.

i was just going to revive a clientele thread. "strange geometry" is my favorite lp of theirs. the last time i posted on them, "violet hour" had just come out and i was underwhelmed.

btw when did they get a gorgeous violin player?

also note that alasdair was once an ilxor.

I'd never heard of them until I went through Southall's Best of '07 list on Amazon. I bought it based on that recommendation and yeah, it's a very good album.

Also note that Graham was once an ilxor.

lots of former ilxors... where are they now?...

also note that alasdair was once an ilxor.

I remember reading about that on another thread. But wasn't it just one post by him (e.g., a response to another ILX'or commenting on The Clientele)?

The new violin player joined the band just before God Save The Clientele was recorded, I think. And yeah, she is hot.

as i recall, he was fairly active here for a bit. ca. 2001.

No, it wasn't just one post by any means; we also debated Derrida / Paul de Man / Rudolph Gasché once, for instance.

hi pinefox.

Their new Acuarela ep has been delayed for a month or so now, I really liked the droney tracks on the previous Adriane ep & hope they've done a few more.

i have all their early 7"s, I wish they were bigger than they are so I could sell them and buy a house

One of them's on the MySpace page: "Share the Night". It is great, but it's in no way like the Ariadne stuff.

Good song! But as they become more upbeat and clear, they do lose something essential (that hazy charm of their early records). Still, they've got to grow, and they are still a special band.

Yeah, I kind of think that they've done that... Really well, but better to change than keep on pumping out the same records.

Just you wait -- the third album will be nothing but bad reggae and refried boogie and be produced by Glen Ballard.

well thank god this didn't come true!

New album tentatively coming out in October. Sounds like it might be their last.

I'll be bummed if they break-up after the next album. Feels like they had plenty of room to develop their sound, without losing what makes them special and charming.

The interview makes the record sound extremely promising.

"Sounds like it might be their last."

it's only "might", so ill stay poisitive bout it.

The only Clientele record i return to is Geomatry,really.great piece of music.
also, alsadir is underrated guitarist

...seeing them love made it clearer, to me at least.

another new track!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_r9NgWnPYo

Thats really lovely, feeling much better about the lp now.

not totally feeling new song tbh - a little bit the drums, a little bit the recurring guitar “sample” at the top - cool that they are playing with the sound, just didn’t quite gel for me in this instance

― meat and two vdgg (emsworth), Tuesday, 25 April 2023 23:03 (two months ago) link

Revisiting that first new track again and yeah I think it just comes across as a bit too stiff overall. Both the instrumentation and forcing "blue over blue" into that vocal melody contribute to that feeling for me. HOWEVER I don't necessarily dislike it, I guess I'm just trying to analyze why it was feeling a little off.

The Clientele is best when they sound effortless and it did not feel that way. This is also why I was a little turned off by the overstuffed production on the last album.

I'm definitely warming to Dying in may, though still getting a distinct Noel's-posh-cousin-does-a-trip vibration from it that i'm not sure what do with.

Blue over blue is nice enough but has a couple of tics that bother me (the farting fuzz, the baroque breakdown), its unusual for the first taste of a new clientele lp to be anything but flat out perfection, but i'm sure it will be fine in context. Now very excited to hear the record and on board for any eeriness / polite tinkering / scorched earth sonic terrorism in might entail.

out friday! :D

there's... a podcast?
https://shows.acast.com/the-clientele-podcast

We got a promo of the new album in at work which I've played a couple of times. I'm really not feeling it sadly. There's some songs that just don't work (including the first two singles). The nicer more typical Clientele songs just feel like retreads of what they've done before.

I'll stick with it because I love these guys, but my first impression is that this is easily their weakest album and I doubt I'll pick it up.

just came in the mail! haven't listened yet

First spin and I'm liking this a LOT more than the last one.

now that's what I want to hear!

the video was never posted was it... it's fun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-YpCcy05OA

on first listen this is brilliant! everything I didn't know I needed

the drums!

never thought I'd get radiohead vibes from a clientele record haha

this could be a breakthrough album for them

haha I could live without the beats and any echoes of r*******d but I do really like it on first play and can now happily file my mild dislike of blue over blue as an irrelevance. This isn't going to do their reputation for none more cut glass Englishness any good is it...

worth the wait for Chalk Flowers alone

Liking this on first listen. Idly speculating that it takes a period of months/years to know whether an album with skits/interludes properly gels.

All the positive reactions are encouraging me to spend more time with this. The last album was so instant and is one of my favourite albums of theirs. I'm hoping this one grows on me.

It's funny because the last album ended up being my least favorite! It felt like a (relative) lack of inspired musical ideas with overly busy production garnish to compensate. Like just-OK ice cream base layer with overly rich syrup and sprinkles etc. Ends up being a "bit much" and sort of underwhelming all at once. I'm trying too hard to describe it perfectly and in doing so makes me sound more negative than intended probably... because I still like it! Just not as much as most of the rest of the discography.

New one sounded really cohesive - ambitious but in a way that felt more successful and immersive to me! Really into it.

xpost i my initial view on the last album was relatively negative but after listening to it a few more times over the years i came round to really loving about half the songs.

looking forward to spending time with the new one.

Age of Miracles had like four top-tier Clientele songs... Everyone You Meet, Lunar Days, Falling Asleep, Age of Miracles! Maybe it's time to poll the Clientele?

So far this one seems like a sprawling version of the Ariadne EP (which has the earlier, superior version of Impossible)

I was prepared to hate this based on one of the advance singles and some of what you all were posting (even the complimentary comments had me a little worried). But actually it was pretty good on first listen. It meanders in a way I don't really think other Clientele albums do and I'm not sure how that will feel after multiple listens, but at least the first time through I enjoyed the wax/wane pacing.

Enjoying this also (from a similarly skeptical starting point)… reminds me of Performance somehow - viz hippy-era eclecticism but also the sense of a big rambling house full of different vibes… man…

the last album ended up being my least favorite! It felt like a (relative) lack of inspired musical ideas with overly busy production garnish to compensate

this is too harsh

but I agree with the sentiment

I tried to disclaimer that it sounded harsher than I meant for it to...

Gee, the not-a-song-per-se tracks are frequently quite spiffy.

they've always had good interstitals

missing an i in there somewhere

Yeah, true. This time part of me wants an entire LP along the lines of "My Childhood"/"The Village is Always On Fire" etc. Perhaps in a Julian House sleeve!

I think this is one of those albums where you can Remove one song from an almost perfect album to make it a perfect album
maybe several

but maybe that's why it's great

an album can't be a 10 if it doesn't have skips. means they weren't taking enough risks

― flopson, 8. august 2023 22:43

see also voodoo chili's upcoming treatise "in defense of skips"

The Clientele have a new podcast... https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-clientele-podcast/id1698656005

For no good reason at all this has been one of those in one ear, out the other bands for me, but I'll be seeing them tonight!

I was out of town and missed their dc gig, but 2 folks who I know who attended, enjoyed the gig

Really pleasing set, short and sweet, like one long suite with a bunch of lovely movements (that I immediately forgot as I heard them, lol). Alasdair is an endearingly fussy guitarist, love his refusal to use obvious chords. There was one song where he totally (and recognizably, so intentionally) went all "Marquee Moon." Was there with a friend that knows the group so got to say hi at the end of the night. Nice crowd turnout.

Would love to see them but don't think I'll be able to make any of the European cities

Happy all the same that they are performing and that they're great as always

they missed flyover space, i'd enjoy seeing alisdair verlaine. glad they're goin' around tho

got tickets for some of the east coast shows but couldn't make it (not for unhappy reasons though... I bought a new house and had to move that weekend!)

Looking forward to seeing them in SF on the 20th.

Saw them play in Seattle last night, they were great. They did a long version of Lamplight with the Marquee Moon interlude that Josh mentioned upthread. The (three or four) new songs they played sounded really good. Alasdair mentioned they had not yet played Blue Over Blue without messing it up, but they seemed to get through it without a hitch.

Paris tonight! In a boat on the Seine. I’m looking forward to it a lot.

I was undisapponted, and I was not alone in that. Three encores and some disgruntlement that there wasn’t a fourth. They played “A Picture of Dorian Gray” in the final encore, I haven’t heard them play that one in a very long time.

sounds amazing! I'm sad I missed their US tour recently but I was moving house that week

I have never cared for this band but the new album knocked me out.

they played the House Always Wins!

Did they? I haven’t seen that for a while, glad it’s still in rotation

haha wait weren't you there? in paris?

They didn’t play THAW last night - I’d have noticed, it’s my favourite!

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-clientele/2023/petit-bain-paris-france-3ba33868.html

I was working off this posted setlist but maybe it's just wrong!

Yeah I’m absolutely certain that’s wrong

that's really harshing my vicarious enjoyment of the show!

No! It was really good!

this is clearly doing it wrong but my perfect IANTA album (more like an EP this way) playlist goes:

Lady Grey
Conjuring Summer In
Blue Over Blue
Claire's Not Real
Chalk Flowers
Hey Siobhan
Through the Roses

might poll Lady Grey vs. Claire's Not Real vs. Hey Siobhan

results might reflect Strange Geometry vs. God Save the Clientele vs. Suburban Light

Really good in London tonight, including a cellist (worked especially well on The Age of Miracles, I thought, and the extra-extra-long Lamplight) and a special guest appearance from Mel! Pleasure to see her onstage with them again.