Clinic

Clinic are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 1997, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Ade Blackburn, guitarist Brian Campbell, bassist Jonathan Hartley, and drummer Carl Turton. The band are known for their unusual stage presentation — performing while wearing surgical masks — and for a sound that blends garage rock, krautrock, psychedelia, and post-punk in ways that feel genuinely distinctive. Internal Wrangler (2000), their debut full-length on Domino Records, was a sharp and immediate record that drew on the Velvet Underground, Suicide, and 1960s garage pop. It won the Mercury Prize shortlist nomination and established Clinic as one of the more interesting bands to emerge from the early-2000s British indie scene. Walking With Thee (2002) and Winchester Cathedral (2004) continued to develop their psychedelic garage sound. The band's subsequent records — Do It! (2008), Bubblegum (2010), Free Reign (2012), and Wheeltappers And Shunters (2019) — have maintained their commitment to a singular aesthetic while exploring different production textures. They have remained on Domino Records throughout, one of the more quietly enduring relationships in British independent music. Clinic's influence has been acknowledged by artists working across psych, garage rock, and post-punk, and their refusal to adapt to commercial trends has made them cult figures in independent music.