The Clientele: God Save the Clientele

Label: Merge

The fun part of putting together a list of your favorite albums of the year is that you get to revisit those special moments when you first heard these great records. Except in the case of the Clientele, I didn’t have any one moment to revisit, since this record has been playing nonstop in the store and in my home and car since it came out in the spring. There’s a word for an album like this: perfect. The highly melodic indie pop of Alasdair MacLean’s Clientele has reached its zenith on God Save the Clientele, the band’s third full-length and easily its best. Recorded in Nashville with producer Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Calexico, Silver Jews), God Save still shows the band’s Monkees fixation going strong (the fabulous opening track brings to mind “Daydream Believer” immediately), but several new twists are added here, from bits of country twang, power pop and experimental indie rock, resulting in a glorious and enjoyable record that should bring this criminally underappreciated band to a whole new audience. Don’t deny yourself this one.