God Save the Clientele

My MOG rating: 7 out of 10 StarsThe third album from the UK's The Clientele takes the listener on a sunny trip down the Thames, stopping at a few tiny record shops on the way to pick up some obscure Beach Boys 7"s and a few string-heavy Serge Gainsbourg albums. The previous Clientele records were like looking through a dusty window at a louche party of artists and beatniks. With "God Save the Clientele", the dust has been wiped away, and the party has brightened considerably. "These Days Nothing But Sunshine" serves as a lullaby for an afternoon picnic, while the swinging guitars of the opening track "Here Comes the Phantom" could easily be the soundtrack to a 70's Peter Sellers movie. The sun-drenched Byrdsian vibe isn't imagined- along for the ride are Americana stalwarts Pat Sansone from the Autumn Defense/Wilco, Tony Crow from Lambchop, and Lupe Nunez-Fernandez from Pipas. The Clientele has always been influenced by the art and writings of the Surrealists. Their previous album, "Strange Geometry" seemed to draw more directly from the darkly absurd world of surreal art, melding storytime lyrics with string arrangements designed to sound like being lost in a forest of chiming redwoods. The band never fully loses its sense of melancholy and surreal whimsy on "God Save...", though, and this is most easily heard on tracks like "Isn't Life Strange" and whisper-filled "The Dance of the Hours". While writing this, I read a few reviews complaining that Clientele records all sound the same. While I agree that The Clientele's sound doesn't differ much from album to album, it surely has been evolving into a cohesive signature style. Take a bit of pop psychedelia, a little Wicker Man-esque pastoral folk-with-edge and some opulent strings and you will have the recipe for a satisfying record.Read lead singer Alasdair Maclean's blog here.Go here to hear what The Clientele like to play in their tour bus.