Internal Wrangler

Internal Wrangler is the debut studio album by British indie rock band Clinic. It was released on 1 May 2000 through Domino Records.

Internal Wrangler
Studio album by Clinic
Released	1 May 2000 (2000-05-01)
Recorded	1999–2000
Genre	Indie rock, post-punk revival, garage rock
Length	30:58
Label	Domino
Producer	Gareth Jones Clinic
Clinic chronology
Clinic (1999) Internal Wrangler (2000) Walking with Thee (2002)
Singles from Internal Wrangler
"The Return of Evil Bill" Released: 10 April 2000 (2000-04-10) "Distortions" Released: 10 July 2000 (2000-07-10) "The Second Line" Released: 9 October 2000 (2000-10-09)

Background

The band signed to Domino Records following the release of several self-financed singles. The song "The Return of Evil Bill" is a follow-up to the song "Evil Bill" that appeared on the Clinic compilation album, and remains a fan favorite in live shows. The band, particularly lead singer Ade Blackburn, are superstitious and chose not to include a song on the 13th track; instead a four-second silence is heard before the album's final song, "Goodnight Georgie". This is believed to be why the subsequent albums have been no more than 12 songs long until 2010's Bubblegum.

The short interlude track "DJ Shangri-La" is an excerpt of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight" Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor played on a highly overdriven organ, although here it is played in standard 4/4 time, while the original piano motif was in 3/4 time. The song "The Second Line" was used prominently in a Levi's Jeans television advertisement in late 2000, which then led to it being re-issued. It also features an interpolation of the song "Cavern" by Liquid Liquid.

The album cover was inspired by Ornette Coleman's 1961 album Ornette!.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	82/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[3]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Guardian	[6]
NME	6/10[7]
Pitchfork	9.3/10[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Spin	9/10[10]

The Independent wrote that "this short, sweet and sour debut album packs more imaginative strategies into half an hour than most bands manage in entire careers."^[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Clinic (Ade Blackburn, Brian Campbell, Jonathan Hartley and Carl Turney).

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Voodoo Wop"	1:41
2.	"The Return of Evil Bill"	2:32
3.	"Internal Wrangler"	3:03
4.	"DJ Shangri-La"	0:52
5.	"The Second Line"	2:28
6.	"C.Q."	1:09
7.	"T.K."	2:31
8.	"Earth Angel"	3:20
9.	"Distortions"	4:01
10.	"Hippy Death Suite"	1:18
11.	"2nd Foot Stomp"	2:52
12.	"2/4"	2:33
13.	Untitled (silence)	0:04
14.	"Goodnight Georgie"	2:34
Total length:		30:58

Personnel

Clinic

• Ade Blackburn – keyboard, melodica, lead vocals
• Brian Campbell – bass, flute, backing vocals
• Jonathan Hartley – lead guitar, clarinet, keyboards
• Carl Turney – drums, piano, backing vocals, additional percussion

Production

• Clinic – production
• Gareth Jones – production

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)[12]	142
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[13]	25