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Clor are no ordinary band. Likewise their eponymous debut LP is far from any humdrum album. While many groups desperately try to tag on to passing crazes or simply regurgitate overused benchmarks, Clor are refreshingly devoid of blatant plagiarism or imitating fickle trends and have instead produced a joyously playful and startling debut. It’s experimental without being up its rectal passage, honest without being overbearing, lyrically direct without being self-absorbed, and above all it’s damn bloody good fun – imagine a 44 minute popper rush… without the headache.
The aptly titled ‘Good Stuff’ kicks things off accordingly. The imposing guitar scrawls quickly give way to a synthetic beat that sounds like it was sampled directly from an eighties Casio keyboard. Indeed, the opening 25 seconds perfectly encapsulate the almost naïve, yet incredibly warm sound that pervades throughout. Soon, amidst an irresistibly catchy hook and electronic pulses, high-pitched frontman Barry Dobbin is soon talking about curly straws - Really if ever an object personified this band perfectly it’s this. ‘Outlines’ hones in on themes ubiquitous to the album – sex, lust and the opposite sex - and centres on the line, “Each of us is special, in out own unique way”. A simple, yet strangely profound statement. Yet it’s with the hyperactive, kaleidoscope of sounds, ‘Love and Pain’, that the album notches up a tempo. Eargasmic stuff, Barry triumphantly sings: “The ones you want, they’re the ones that get away, the ones you need, never need to stay” – proof that love isn’t black and white, instead some of us just bumble our way through.
Elsewhere, the down tempo ‘Gifted’ reveals the vulnerability and poignancy of Barry’s voice, as he laments: “Well I’ve got problems I’ll never share, I’ll work them out slowly you won’t be there”. Complete with sparse guitars and xylophone plonks you almost want to give Bazza a hug. Later ‘Stuck In A Tight Spot’ restores a bit of insanity to proceedings with scatty guitars, random verses and sporadic sounds that somehow work brilliantly together. While ‘Dangerzone’ with its slow building dancey beats, ominous slightly risqué lyrics (“Let’s get down to business, How far are you going? Cos I’m going all the way”), is nothing short of hypnotising.
Luckily, as the album progresses it shows no sign of waning. ‘Magic Touch’ with its rhythmic tempo matching Barry’s incredibly soprano singing, bleeps here and there, air-guitar inducing breaks and risqué lyrics once again (“You’ll come alive to my magic touch”), is typically enthralling. Later, ‘Making You All Mine’ is buoyed by pulsing, almost drum n’ bass beats, weird atmospherics and an almost schizophrenic, unpredictable sound. While the plaintive, closing lilt of ‘Goodbye’ proves that when Barry and the boys want to be all soft-hearted and sentimental they can do it with plenty of aplomb.
True, due to Clor’s unique style and Barry’s high-pitched voice, newcomers may not immediately ‘get’ this album. Give it some time though and it clicks… perfectly. A liberated and joyous work, you’d be hard pushed to find a better debut album all year.
