Clinic

From the opening sporadic drumbeats of this album, the krautrock influence is obvious, but Velvet Underground, Beach Boys, punk and '60s pop reveal themselves. Clinic are from Liverpool and sometimes like to sport those extravagant Sgt. Pepper costumes. This band has signature hospital masks that they always wear and have been chosen as the opening act for Radiohead's upcoming European tour. Interested yet? Well, Internal Wrangler, their debut album proper (they released a self-titled singles compilation last year), is an homage to the two-minute pop song, with only three of the 14 songs scraping over the three-minute mark. It's an album for those who can barely make it through a sitcom without changing positions on the sofa. Songs titles such as "The Return of Evil Bill" and "Hippy Death Suite" only slightly capture the weirdness behind this band, but really this is an album that must grace your record collection.