Mogwai - Happy Songs For Happy People
(PIAS)
This Scottish quintet's fourth full-length (and first since the disastrous non-starter, 2001's Rock Action—it wasn't, and it didn't) gets off on the right foot with the cinematic expanse of opener "Hunted by a Freak." A mournful organ-violin duet leads the funeral processional dirge that is "Moses? I Amn't," while the disturbingly titled "Kids will be Skeletons" returns the band to its roots with the gentle, guitar-driven, hypnotic ebb and flow not unlike classic Spacemen 3. While the loud/soft dynamic of "Killing all the Flies" and "Ratts of the Capital" will do little to assuage the pundits' oft-cited Godspeed You Black Emperor/Sigur Ros comparisons/criticisms, at least "Boring Machines Disturbs Sleep," despite its equally pretentious title, adds a not unpleasant, albeit unintelligible vocal into the mix. And the mellow, meditative "Golden Porsche," based around a simple, but beautiful piano melody with violin trappings may be the most nostalgically romantic piece in their entire oeuvre.
"I know you are but what am I?" gathers itself around another piano lesson, but the harpsichord-y vibes and softshoe shuffling percussive treatments will keep the listener awake long enough to settle into the finale, "Stop Coming to my house." You may have to lock yourself into a small room and throw on the headphones to hear its crescendo begin to build, but, yes, Virginia, there is a song in there. Unfortunately, others have already been there, done that. And, even more frustrating, so have Mogwai. Nevertheless, props for trying an encouraging new direction into cinematic atmospherics. This is the quietest Mogwai release yet, and for a band who built their reputation on exploring and controlling the dynamics of sound and the use of silence, it may be just the kickstart they need to reacquire the frustrated fans who have drifted away over the last few releases, where the lads seemed mired in quicksand, continually rehashing the same sonic palette established on their Young Team debut back in '97.
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