Artist: Click Click
Title: Those Nervous Surgeons
Genre: Electronic/ Industrial
Release Date: 6th June 2014
Label: Dependent Records
Album Review
Sweet stuff! This is not just the title of CLICK CLICK's biggest hits but also my first though when I listened to the band's new album 'Those Nervous Surgeons'. It's the first album with new studio material in 17 years, as the label info points out, but this neglects the splendid 'Skin And Bones' EP from 2011, which is with its seven tracks often listed as an album of its own. Not to mention the various re-releases and compilations like the singles collection 'Lung Function'. So while CLICK CLICK have not been as dead and silent as the label info for 'Those Nervous Surgeons' claims it is true that the band's releases have been rather few and far between over the last two decades and if there were ne (re-)releases, then they were often flying under the radar of too many fans of the genre.
So let's hope that things will be different for 'Those Nervous Surgeons'. The requirements are all there, at least. Besides a good promo and support from the Dependent label there's of course the quality of the album itself. Starting with the dark and atmospheric 'Passenger', CLICK CLICK deliver about 55 minutes of fine dark and experimental Electro which breathes the old spirit of Industrial and 1980s EBM without sounding dated and too retro. The music has a rather timeless quality, and alone a song 'Man in A Suit' with organic drums, an unusual saxophone and a killer groove proves the excellent musicianship of brothers Smith.
'Rats In My Bed', which some might already know from the 'Skin And Bones' EP, is another one of the infectious up-tempo tracks on the album. The song has been significantly revamped for the 'Those Nervous Surgeons' and has the album version is much groovier and more bombastic than the version from 2011. Talking about grooves, CLICK CLICK are true masters of polyrhythmic experiments which they combine with the sinister, diabolic quirk of their songwriting. In many ways the music on 'Those Nervous Surgeons' links back to vintage CLICK CLICK albums as 'Rorschach Testing' (1988) and 'Bent Massive' (1989), and this surely isn't a bad thing! It is hard to pigeonhole the sound of the album as it is neither EBM nor Industrial nor Synth Pop although it surely has elements from all of them. CLICK CLICK deliver an intense, dark and dystopian ride with their new album, all enveloped with Adrian Smith's charismatic, fragile but still aggressive vocals.
There's a regular 11 track version of the album available in jewel case format as well as a special edition, limited to 300 copies. The box set features a bonus disc with demo versions of some album tracks and a rather unusual goodie: CLICK CLICK singer Adrian Smith’s first novel 'The Eradication Of Hate' as an exclusive book! This utopian work addresses rampant censorship in an emerging English surveillance state, a subject also tackled in several songs on the album, for example 'Drone' and 'What Do You Want' as well as the title track 'Those Nervous Surgeons' itself.
Tracklist
01. Passenger
02. Man in A Suit
03. Lock Them Up
04. Rats In My Bed
05. Factory
06. What Do You Want
07. The Warminster Detective
08. Burn
09. Drone
10. Keep Us Out Of The Way
Line-up
Adrian Smith
Derek Smith
Graham Stronach
Jon Morris
Pete "Luton" Hosier
Website
https://www.facebook.com/ClickClick.UK / http://rotorbabe.com/
Box: http://www.dependent.de/index.php?lan=de&area=releases&id=218
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: 9
Total: 9 / 10
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