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It’s remarkable that something so good can come from feeling so bad. As is the case of most great art, Toronto trio the Cliks have dredged the emotional mire of the past two years to create Dirty King, a rich rock extravaganza showcasing a sonic expansion for the band. With music as textured and layered as the deeply varied emotional terrain it treads, feeling bad never sounded so good.

Composed from a place of deep turmoil, lead singer Lucas Silveira began work on the Cliks’ second album following the highly successful tours behind sophomore release Snakehouse. The band’s incendiary live shows became the calling card by which they were known, and in short order, musical heroes Ian Astbury of the Cult and Cyndi Lauper hand-picked the band for their respective tours. Late-night bookers were listening too, and soon the Cliks found themselves on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, not to mention a very special performance Lucas did with Cyndi Lauper on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The band picked up momentum and fans when Logo awarded them the NewNowNext Artist On the Brink Award which ultimately led to an appearance on teenybopper mecca TRL to discuss their plans for the future.

Though critically lauded and publicly adored, Silveira returned road weary and emotionally shattered. Having spent 400 days on the road touring behind Snakehouse, Silveira was eager to return home, but home wasn’t the reprieve he’d hoped it would be. “The album is based around defeat, lies, deception, loss of trust in others and yourself,” explains Silveira. “I wrote the album coming from a really lonely place.” Indeed, the album plumbs difficult depths in the form of relationships and identity politics, as did the band’s Tommy Boy debut, Snakehouse, but here, there is a redemptive quality absent from the band’s previous output.  The price of that, however, is eternal vigilance. “Dirty King is more about having risen out of the ashes, being on your feet, but constantly having to dodge people trying to knock you down,” says Silveira.

With their rise out of the ashes comes new sonic territory for the band. Their most adventurous album to date finds the band teamed with producer-engineer Sylvia Massy (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool) at her Weed, California based Radio Star Studios. “She’s my kind of producer,” says drummer Morgan Doctor. “She doesn’t come from a singer-songwriter background, but an engineering background, so she’s more about creating sound and texture in the studio.” Massy’s studio -- filled with enough amps, effects and instruments to make it a veritable playground for musicians – served as the band’s bedrock to create the full range of the album’s sounds and correlating emotions, from the jagged rock of its denials to the soulful balladry of its admissions.

The album’s namesake, and perhaps the clearest distillation of Silveira’s emotional state during the writing of the album, is “Dirty King.” Based on the gulf between how Silveira felt and how he was perceived, the song slides in on a surf guitar riff as Silveira alternates between a vamp and growl, teasing out the chorus in a voice that manages to sound menacing and seductive at once. Elsewhere, the band changes gears on the mournful “Not Your Boy” and “Emily,” the catchiest evidence of the band’s expanding sound. “’Emily’ is definitely a big leap for the Cliks as a band, but for myself as a songwriter, I have lots of songs like this under my belt. I just never introduced them to the band because I didn’t feel like it was ‘Cliks’ material,” says Silveira of the waltzing, string-laden track that’s more dulcet than biting. The song’s inclusion is a testament to the direction of Massy, who encouraged Silveira to continue writing after he’d played her an early version. The song also demonstrates Massy’s analog approach, and the adventurousness of the band. Where most producers would have downloaded the sound of glass breaking to use on the track, the band and producer headed out onto the streets of Weed to procure their own found noise. “We were out late at night on the main street of Weed, breaking a huge piece of glass and recording it live,” says Doctor.

Dirty King also sees the band writing together, as well as playing. After bassist Jen Benton wrote the bassline for “Career Suicide” while on tour, she began playing it at soundcheck. Doctor suggested she continue developing it, and ultimately all three would collaborate to write it. “On tour Lucas and I came up with the pre-chorus together, [and] we put together the chorus and the bridge, which was written to a very rhythmically defined beat Morgan came up with,” says Benton. “It was a great experience for [us].”

Despite themselves, the Cliks couldn’t help but make a record that made order out of tumult and sense out of turbulence. With pop hooks lacing the rock spines The Cliks are known for, the songs inhabit the specificity of the circumstances under which they were written, all the while appealing to broader audiences.

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Sean Finn	Jul 14 2009 8:42 AM Thanx 4 coming to Pride SF. Sorry U were cut off by karaoke. Your mini set rocked anyway. It was worth wading thru the crowd for !
Lunafly	Jul 14 2009 5:04 AM Come hear LUNAFLY before the album release. Leave us a comment. we would love to hear from you.. Best Jesse LUNAFLY
Bubbha	Jul 12 2009 5:27 PM Rochester, NY that is ...lol ...oops!
Bubbha	Jul 12 2009 5:26 PM LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new CD ... hold on memory that you'd be coming to ROCHESTER !!!!
noll	Jul 11 2009 11:28 PM Nice, come to sweden soon yes!
vanessa Online Now!	Jul 11 2009 10:08 PM Hi there, thanks for add, good music in here !
Richard Ballare	Jul 9 2009 5:21 AM Hello. Thank you for the add. I hope you get a chance to listen to my music at www.myspace.com/richardballare. Feel free to add me to your Twitter account as well. Go to www.twitter.com/ballare1 Thank you. Richard Ballare
Amanda	Jul 8 2009 7:56 PM Hey! Thanks! Me encanta tu musica!! Suerte!!
Livid	Jul 8 2009 4:55 PM Visit lividcast.com to promote your music videos for free to over 5,000 viewers a day!
☠ OMG Lollipop™Rawwr ☠	Jul 7 2009 2:33 PM thanks 4 approve me..
Eartaster	Jul 6 2009 9:41 PM The Cliks were featured as a taste of the day at www.eartaste.com today - thanks!!!
Ashley	Jul 4 2009 11:41 PM Happy 4th! I'm having the best one EVER because I finally got paid and bought your new CD! I love your new sound. Animal Farm is my favorite track by far. The vocals are mind blowing and the band is really tight. Keep making more amazing music and get your sexy asses to BALTIMORE!!!
Martin	Jul 4 2009 9:14 PM you guys always make me smile when i listen to ya, i've been a following your guy's music for a while since i was 17ish... i hope you guys come to texas one day, maybe south by south west? haha
Color Bending Silver Spoons	Jul 4 2009 8:58 PM you guys are awesome. i'm digging every thing. the new cd is amazing. been around for a awhile and i'm not going any where now. you guys rock my socks
Chelle	Jul 4 2009 7:28 PM Happy 4th of July
Jessi	Jul 4 2009 8:13 AM Hi The Cliks! Thanks for add in friends! Your music is beautiful !!!
JeAmour	Jul 4 2009 5:50 AM Happy Forth of July
\|.Nugget.\|	Jul 3 2009 9:38 PM Hey thnx for adding me! You guys are really great! Hey! you guys should come and play somewhere in california! i would really love to see you play! i love ur music!:)
Scott	Jul 3 2009 9:18 PM Embrace Happiness! Love Hard. LIVE with PASSION. Make each moment count, and enjoy Life to the fullest. Wishing you and all your friends today an absolutely phenomenal day!
dj carne	Jul 2 2009 9:52 PM !!!OUT NOW!!! july 1, 2009 debut album - literary devices - on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody... dj carne
Coolie Pool	Jul 2 2009 2:17 PM stopping by to say hi-comment back
POET PRIESTESS OF NOTHING	Jul 2 2009 11:28 AM My band Kenelis are playing London Pride!! If you're coming support us and join our event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=88656006555&ref=nf#/event.php?eid=88656006555&ref=ts If you like my music - spread the word :) Also email 'Give her the Gun' to kenelis@mac.com for a free album track xxx Mel x
Denise	Jul 2 2009 4:34 AM Thank you, again, for taking such a strong stance on that issue. I do care, and because I didn't have a voice when I was younger, on that matter--I do try to speak up when I can. I'm happy to lend my support. Some of the comments there were disgusting--and are even more so now--and I didn't want them to be left uncontested. Namaste ~
Jimmy	Jul 2 2009 1:51 AM Your new CD arrived today, signed. Thankyou so much!!!!! Xoxoxoxo
sheena	Jul 1 2009 5:59 PM Question// Why is it that you haven't been to Montreal? No record launch.. Nothing for Montreal Pride?/ We miss you.

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