Clinic, frankly, give me the heebie-jeebies ”“ always have done. Indeed, this is presumably the deliberate intention from this cult Liverpool band on the consistently excellent Domino label. The surgical masks, the peculiar instruments, the top hats, and ”“ above all ”“ the unique vocal stylings of front man Ade Blackburn (a man who manages to sing seemingly through clenched teeth) all convey a tangible and at times overpowering sense of threat and restrained tension.On this, their 5th album, the troubling elements are all present. Lyrical snippets, when they can be made out, include troubling couplets such as “People that you use (”¦) / People that you bruise” (from single 'The Witch'); “Sup it / Cup it” from 'Free Not Free' (which is not ostensibly a creepy lyric, but as so often with this band, it’s just the way it’s delivered”¦); “Skin yourself / Skin yourself / In the summer” ('Corpus Christi') and “Now your thoughts begin to fray” (from 'High Coin' ”“ the most Clinic-like Clinic track on the album). Words and phrases are obsessive-compulsively repeated in 'Tomorrow', 'The Witch', and 'Emotions'; and a range of bizarre and spooky sounds are produced from an eclectic range of instruments. It starts from the album opener 'Memories', a sinister percussive rattle that reflects the band’s Liverpudlian heritage by echoing psych-era Beatles. There's also the downright nasty guitar riffs such as that found on 'Free Not Free' and the shrieking electronic crescendo in 'Tomorrow'.Two tracks have curious spoken-word elements to them. 'Emotions' starts with a well-spoken woman who sounds like she is a BBC announcer circa-1950something informing us that “The following signal is recorded equally, and in phase, on both channels, and should provide a central image.” No, me neither, but it is an intriguing introduction to a song that morphs into a kind of twisted 3/4 ballad (or as close to a ballad as Clinic would get). The second is the closing track 'Coda', when (presumably) Blackburn informs us that “This record is a celebration of the 600th anniversary of the Bristol Charter. A Celebration of sheer joy.” Unfortunately my limited research (the normally reliable Google and Wikipedia) didn’t give me any further information on this event, so ”“ as with much of this intriguing yet perplexing album ”“ I was left none the wiser. The song then goes on to entreat the listener to “Let go of the rail / Let go of the rail / We’re ready, upstairs, with the winch”, which is probably one of the least “encouraging” encouragements I can imagine hearing.Ultimately, however, this is not a band that need or want to be categorized, analysed and understood. Their greatness lies in their obscurity, the way that you can just tell that something deeply worrying is going on just around the corner or in the next room; while quite what that is is never spelled out. Nor should it be. They are one of UK music’s most individual and interesting propositions: just ”“ please god - don’t make me listen to them in the house, alone, in the night. 80%Links Clinic [official site] [myspace]