Screamer of the Day: Clearlake

Clearlake – Cedars
(Domino Records, 2003)

Another gem yanked up from the depths of the Newbury Comics Wicked Cheap bins, and another astonished “How did I miss this?” response from me.

Cedars is the second album from the Hove-formed indie guitar combo, Clearlake, who are led by Jason Pegg, and produced by Cocteau Twin, Simon Raymonde. Their sound has been compared in the press to artists such as Blur, My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie, but I would describe them as a triad of The Smiths, Tindersticks and The Go-Betweens. And dare I say it…the Beatles. (ducking…) But yes, the Beatles. Some of the harmonies arranged here can’t deny it. But we love the Beatles! How much of all of what we love would have happened without them?

This album and I have a kind of relationship similar to reluctant lovers. One trial after another, you realize you keep ending up with someone who you’d never even considered a possibility, but suddenly, there he is and you wondered how you hadn’t seen it all along. And while a couple of the songs initially moved me enough to scoop this out of a local bargain bin, it was weeks later that I realized just how sensational this album is. Consequently, the very first words uttered by the singer in the opening track, “Fine, I’ll admit, I may have been wrong / but I never knew that we’d get along” are pretty much spot on. Unfortunately, the album is out of print, so I’ve included four of the tracks here to motivate you to search the used eBins wherever you happen to shop on line for your music.

Almost the Same:

[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/clearlake/clearlake01.mp3]

I half-expected Almost the Same to dive right into a sappy love song fodder, which would have been fine given its rushing, heady, clear-toned guitar crying out like an angel and blowing through the opening tunnel on bouncing wheels of deep drums and a simple bassline. But instead it’s all about unresolved doubt and the waning reluctance to proceed despite this open issue. In fact, he needs enough convincing that he has to sing the same set of lyrics twice. Fine…whatever it takes.

I’d Like to Hurt You:

[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/clearlake/clearlake05.mp3]

It’s creepy. It’s conflicted. It’s where others would be tempted to cite Radiohead and even Coldplay. But I’m aiming my reference gun at the Go Betweens here. This, and “Just of the Coast” are in a square alignment with the Go Betweens’ early masterpiece, Send Me a Lullaby.

Can’t Feel A Thing:

[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/clearlake/clearlake04.mp3]

This, and “Almost the Same” prove the band can really rock out, and even throw a curve ball at you in their complex arrangement of this seemingly simple track. But listen close; there’s a lot going on…

Treat Yourself With Kindness:

[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/screamers/clearlake/clearlake10.mp3]

And through all this, the band finds it in their hearts here, along with “Keep Smiling”, to admonish us to go easy on ourselves. Good advice; I, for one, am my own worst critic. Just haunting.

For initially sounding so harmless, I’m continually surprised how much Cedars continues to climb in my esteem. It is vastly more complex than its first few listens let on, more sinister than its pop gloss initially reveals, and if you can find a copy in the bargain bins, a really cheap date…