Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will

Like one of their longer songs, Mogwai have spent a fair chunk of the last decade in an aimless drift. Occasionally, something interesting has bobbed to the surface. However, a great deal of their output has skirted close to quiet/loud/LOUD! cliche. It is pleasantly surprising, then, to report that their seventh album is their finest since 1999’s Come On Die Young. Indeed, several tracks seem to deliberately evoke key moments from their catalogue – there are hints of ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ on opener ‘White Noise’; the Auto-tune vocals of ‘Mexican Grand Prix’ calls to mind Die Young’s ‘Cody’. Thereafter, the album veers towards 90s lo-fi (‘San Pedro’), the God Speed You Black Emperor apocalyptic (‘Letters to the Metro’) and melodic doom metal (‘How To Be A Werewolf’). Closer ‘You’re Lionel Richie’ starts with soft washes of piano and guitar before giving away to howling tumults of feedback. Vintage Mogwai but, somehow, more engaging than anything they’ve put out since the late ‘90s.