The Clientele "Suburban Light" review and anecdote

https://www.mergerecords.com/suburban... In honor of Record Store Day 2013, the folks at Monster Music & Movies asked me to write about my favorite album for their zine. Thankfully in 2014 the folks at Merge Records reissued this gem on vinyl. Here's what I wrote: Rain, fuzzy nighttime lights, the space between the country and city that turns into free association reminders of the magnificent beauty whose heart is worth stealing. This is Suburban Light. Lyrically, there's a cool, intelligent distance that turns around on a dime leading to heartfelt, sensitive emotions. There are walks through the dark October lanes that flood the depths of the heart as the hands of two people touch. The Clientele did not make sense until I entered a subconscious zone of half-awake, half-dreaming as I listened and drove on a rainy weekday night. It could be a scene in one of these songs . . . looking at mundane routines with a sharp eye, adding meaning to ephemeral activities, even if it's only existential ennui. The years worth of despondent longing that glimmer through each vocal inflection makes Suburban Light, to my ears, the finest hour of The Clientele -- and all of indie rock. I know exactly what is being felt just by the sound of this singular, evocative voice. Suburban Light was my introduction to this band that has many fine albums and EPs. The melodies have never escaped me since I've heard them. "I have never really been here if I am alive," Alasdair MacLean sings on "I Had to Say This" just before the drum pattern shifts the songs into another gear. I've always been amused by the nearly inaudible guitar intro that kicks off the album. By the time the volume is adjusted the entire band is in and I always want to start it over to hear those first shimmering notes. The sparse drumming and melodic bass fits between intricate lead guitar that I may never figure out. As my musical ears grew up they did a double-take and asked: "What the hell is he playing here? This shit is brilliant!" At times Spanish style leads drift out of the 'verb-drenched, icy-electric tones that sneak into lovely backwards guitar on reversed tape. This could be from any era: a long-forgotten late-1960s group (as I initially thought), '80s indie rock or something released yesterday. It was in fact recorded on lo-fi tape machines in the late 1990s. This isn't an album in the proper sense...it's a collection of mostly 45s put together as The Clientele's first long player. "Rain" is genius. It has a 6/8 time signature. I've asked them to play it both times they've performed in Charleston. Much to my dismay, MacLean told me the song is too difficult to play live. But that dismay vanished the instant their set started. It vanishes each time I hear this record. The Record Store Day folks need to come to their senses and release this gem on vinyl.