If you had told me 12 years ago that a band was going to call itself Clinic, play bouncy post-punk and perform wearing surgical attire — including the masks — I would’ve called the guys in white coats to take you away to a padded room.

But here we are, after four albums and various EPs, with a new outing entitled Do It! that shows that Clinic has still got it after a decade just on the cusp of real stardom.

Much of the record sees singer Ade Blackburn deliver quasi-cryptic lyrics either through clenched teeth or in a nervous, brink-of-insanity wail. Both add to the overall claustrophobic nature of the album. Lines like “All the pages you turn, in the book of your wife/ As you’re keeping your teeth in the jar at night/ With the cat in the hearth, and the cat you construct/ All the good in your world, as the penny drops” — which opens “Winged Wheel” — would make no sense delivered by anyone other than Blackburn.

I suppose that the one real drawback of the album has nothing to do with songwriting per se. With 11 songs clocking in at just over a half-hour total, the album is over before it overstays its welcome, but by the same token, it might not be long enough to actually make an impact on the listener. The songs have pop hooks but most only make themselves known during the song, never after. Thus, its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: The record is practically a long EP.

All of that aside, this album’s production is perfect. The guitar tones, the mix, it’s all spot-on. This should be no surprise, as the album’s producer/mixer is Jacquire King and his work is clearly heard throughout. The fuzzed-out guitars of “Coda,” “Memories” and single “Free Not Free” recall his work with contemporaries Orgy, whereas “Shopping Bag” evokes Be Your Own Pet and “The Witch” calls to mind Modest Mouse. The album is a sonic array of colors, really, and a very pretty one at that.

Additionally, the musicianship is also flawless. Granted, no song is all that complex or hard to play, but every member in every song is exactly where he should be. In addition, the band as a whole knows when and when not to play something.

“Tomorrow” would certainly be overstuffed with music had a full drum kit been used, but using only light flourishes here and there, drummer Carl Turney accents the bouncy nature of the song rather than overpower it. Elsewhere, “High Coin” employs a marching band rhythm with a bass line that buzzes around the song. Consequently, it’s one of the few memorable songs of this set.

But as it stands, the album is chockfull of two- and three-minutes pop ditties that, while impeccably written and executed, don’t necessarily amount to much beyond that. On the other hand, this is what Clinic has been perfecting since the Clinton administration, so why should it be any different with this record?

4 stars out of 5