Singer Jason Pegg has always struck me as man desperate to be in a band and get his songs across to people, but felt equally disenfranchised by his contemporaries and the music industry generally. A mixture of excitement, bemusement and certain frustration.

‘Amber’ is Clearlakes third album and as is normally common practice for a band yet to set the chart alight, usually last chance saloon for acts still hanging on to a career. Again, thankfully the lack of commercial success doesn’t seem to have phased the band or their wonderfully relaxed label Domino, for rather an album of desperately cobbled ‘Radio friendly sing alongs’, Clearlake have if anything taken an even greater experimental approach.

They endorse fuzzy distortion of early Jesus and Mary Chain across brilliantly crafted harmonies to embellish the sparse melodics. Like their previous two albums, Amber isn’t instant. For those who like their music to be obvious in yer face and uncomplicated, it won’t mean a jot but for those prepared to allow the songs to develop, it gradually exposes itself to be a real thing of beauty.

The opening gritty guitars of ‘No Kind Of Life’ into the crazed harmonica lead, ‘Neon’, show a harder dirty Clearlake that veers joyously away from the banal indie nonsense we are usually subjected to. Pegg’s vocals swing from Syd Barret, to Robert Smith and Mozzer. A tortured but focused delivery with splinter sharp lyrics. Howling wah wah guitars on ‘Good Clean Fun’ that would frankly make Jo Whiley have a heart attack and reach out for the safety of Her Goldie Looking Chain CD is another brilliant reason for letting this frighteningly underrated band into your life. Go on, you know You want to.

8/10

James Heward