- Artists:
- Clearlake »
- Label:
- Domino Records »
In the last few years, the music world has seen the rise of the NYC rock contingent, the merging of emo with pop-punk, the revival of Eighties electro-disco and the resurgence of Gang of Four-style post-punk art-rock, yet still Clearlake stubbornly hang by their fingertips to the crumbling ledge of Nineties Brit-indie. ‘It’s Getting Light Outside’ finds Clearlake much the same as their other material, a jangly slice of guitar-based pie mixing particularly downbeat vocals with an orchestral rhythm section, all pounding drums, strings and brass (although it turns out the latter is actually a guitar effect).
Even on the opening line “It’s good to see you, it’s been a while”, vocalist Jason Pegg sounds far from enamoured with our presence, and whilst regaling us with tales of staying up talking all night in a despondent tone might not provide the most interesting four minutes of your week, help is at hand. Long Throw Specialist steps forward to drag Clearlake’s musical wardrobe kicking and screaming into the present with a handy remix - less Verve-style fishing hats and mop-tops and more Brylcreem and black shirts – as the main guitar line is cut up and channelled into intermittent, Bloc Party-style slices, then served on a platter of pounding Phones-esque disco beats.
However, even after the remix shows Clearlake how their songs could be, like a visit from the Ghost of Musical Futures, it seems there’s no escaping the gloom as the jerky, uptempo feel just widens the gap between the arrangement and the vocals. ‘It’s Getting Light Outside’ is solid, even if it doesn’t set the world alight, but unfortunately for Clearlake, their path is so well-trodden by now that the ground is beginning to wear thin.
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Well, I'm bound to disagree with this one. Let's get my declaration of interest out of the way - I do their website. But I do it because I love the band and no other reason. Right then.
First thing - there's no brass in it at all (and nowhere where it sounds like there might be) and the strings (which Jason Pegg arranged) are played, not synthesised... I've no idea where you got any other idea from.
Second - and again, this is nothing to do with whether anyone likes it or not - to suggest that this is the same thing they've been doing since the start is just daft. I'm not sure where "Neon" or "It's Getting Light Outside" sound anything like, say, "Jumble Sailing". In fact I know a lot of diehard fans of the first album struggled with the new one - and people still complain when they don't play much of their debut live now. But one of the main reasons from what I can gather is to get away from exactly what you mention here - the whole 'clinging to the past' thing. I can guarantee you that nothing interests them less than being seen as a 90s relic...
Third - and this is obviously a personal judgment rather than a statement of fact, I've always really liked his vocals, but I don't see by any token how they can be deemed as miserablist in the context of the tune at all. The song was meant as an ode to platonic friendship, and nothing in its delivery makes me personally feel that this message isn't gotten across...
Anyway, that's my two quid. Incidentally, the release date has been put back to August 7th.
Ooooooooooh
Mr Reviewer was given a right talking to there. I'm inclined to agree with the son of Satan, this track is the tits and Amber was a slight re-invention for the band, hardly harking back to the good ol days of Lido. But yeah, this track is great, maybe one of the highlights. Not as good as Dreamt That You Died though.
he was given a talking to
because Damian is the guy who runs the Clearlake website & messageboard. I'm a member of the same messageboard, and it REALLY FUCKING PISSES ME OFF when people who represent a band in a public arena, even if it's out of the goodness of their own goddamn heart, go and get ridiculously over-fucking serious at reviewers who are reviewing a song with no baggage (unlike you). the daft bitch who used to run the Alfie website did the same, she pissed me off too.
So, kids, here's the lesson. Run a website for a band? Run anything for a band, whether you get paid for it or not? Well, that's fantastic, but forcing your vested-interest-enhanced views on us lot is not, so kindly fuck right off.
For the record, this isn't a great single. While I like the "Amber" album quite a lot, there's absolutely nothing on it that works well as a single.
at least
i hope it's the Damian from the Clearlake website, otherwise BOY am I going to have egg on my face.
Erm, hello?
Were you so steaming by the end of my post that you had forgotten the first sentence I wrote? I was perfectly honest about it. Like I say, I do the site for love, not money.
What were you saying about the egg? :)
And I probably also ought to say...
...that it was written as a statement of opinion, not as 'the perspective of the guy that does the site'. But because I do the site it could be looked at differently, so I'd probably still have kept my mouth shut if the reviewer had said it wasn't for him, but seeing as it was going on about programmed brass and whatnot (which just made no sense at all) that tipped the balance between posting and not posting.
It's a pain that you can't edit posts, isn't it? Sorry about that.
Last album was indeed
a real change for them.
Not sure this track will work as a single.
It's a damn good song
But yeah, I guess it's not single material. Perhaps 'I Hate That I Got What I Wanted' or 'Finally Free' would have been better choices.
hahah
right. to clear things up:
i do think this sounds a bit like 'Something To Look Forward To'. Not 'Jumble Sailing' though, cos i can't think of much that DOES sound like that song!
secondly, the "programmed" prefix was in relation to the "brass", not the strings, and i think its about 1:10 on my copy of the song when it hits the bridge and it sounds like brass in the background, but it might just be weird guitar effects making it sound that way.. it just sounds more like programmed brass but nevermind.
clear?
oh and
i think Pegg does sound miserable, in that he never really sounds excited. his tone always seems to remain the same no matter what he's singing about!
but, like you Damian, thats just my two quid.
there, all sorted
i'd have bet my girlfriend on it being brass initially, but i don't really have the inside scoop on this like Mr D x
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