The Clean / Unknown Country

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Artist

The Clean

Album Title:

Unknown Country

Album Cover:

Primary Genre

Rock: General Rock

Format

Released

11/05/1996

Label

Flying Nun

Catalog No

FNCD349 D31618

Bar Code No

9 399603 161821

Packaging

Jewelcase

Tracks

1.	Wipe Me, I'm Lucky (3:13)
2.	Champagne & Misery (2:45)
3.	Changing Your Head (3:13)
4.	Balkans (1:18)
5.	Clutch (2:13)
6.	Franz Kafka At The Zoo (1:58)
7.	Whisk (1:28)
8.	Indigo Blue (2:34)
9.	Chumpy (3:46)
10.	Get The Liquid (2:51)
11.	Happy Lil Fella (2:11)
12.	Tweezer (0:47)
13.	Rope (2:58)
14.	Twist Top (2:03)
15.	Cooking Water (3:58)
16.	Valley Cab (2:07)
17.	Wall Walk (3:37)
18.	Balkans (1:27)

Date Acquired

03/15/1997

Personal Rating

Acquired from

Roadrunner Records

Purchase Price

15.00

Web Links

All Music Guide Entry

Reviews

All Music Guide Review:

Review by Tim DiGravina
Unknown Country seems to be the sound of a group of songwriters and performers who don't have the time or energy to dedicate to an album. For the most part, these 18 songs meander and squall randomly, showing little of the jangling, interesting pop/rock charms found in the band members' full-time groups, the Bats and Bailter Space. The Clean is a supergroup gone sour. Making matters worse, there are a number of mind-numbing instrumental interludes that drag the album down. Highlights such as "Happy Lil Fella" and "Clutch" sound like lesser tracks from the artists' full-time bands. "Happy Lil Fella" sounds like a B-side to a song from the Bats' Silverbeet. "Clutch" displays a heavy Chills vibe. "Rope" shows that the Clean had been following the work of Matador artists; it sounds like Pavement gone New Zealand. "Cooking Water" and "Wall Walk" might as well be Bailter Space on a bland day. The album couldn't be more unfocused. It's as if members of the Clean went into the studio with no ideas and simply toyed with sounds from their pasts and their peers, to no good effect. There's not an ounce of passion in the music. Unknown Country is littered with filler; it's a disappointing and difficult album.

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