the LUNA music word 'em up: MOGWAI - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (Sub Pop)

I have already written extensively about my appreciation and love for Mogwai, and how I refuse to be a part of any post-rock backlash that judges their music as derivative of what they themselves created, and how I think their last two records were insanely underrated works of epic beauty and power. I've already spilled those words onto the page, or rather typed them out on my keyboard, and if you are interested in reading my full-throated defense of Mogwai, or me poking my finger in their detractors' eyes, you can read that here. So let's just say that I go into any new Mogwai album believing that they are one of the few indie-rock warhorses left that really matter, and have relatively high expectations of them even some fourteen years into their career. It is with those expectations that I approach the band's seventh studio album, the awesomely titled "Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will."

Let me begin by noting that I've had an advance copy of this record for well over a month, and I'm still unpacking it even as I write, and after an untold number of listens, which is both something of an achievement and a detriment. It's an achievement that the band has packed so many different styles and nuances into the album that it rewards repeat listens, at the same time it lacks a bit of the immediate and visceral thrill of the band's most intense and best work. The record begins with the stately "White Noise," which sounds nothing like white noise and more like a post-rock promenade. It's an enjoyable uplifting track that layers piano and strings on top of the song's already dense core as it unfolds, and, like many of the tracks here, offers numerous flourishes to discover on repeated listens. The song reaches it's epic arc with a wailing guitar that points to louder and heavier things to come. "Mexican Grand Prix" follows and unfortunately introduces inconsistency early into the proceedings. The track is one of the few songs that features vocals in the Mogwai catalog, and for good reason. Other than the amazing vocal tracks on "Rock Action," more often than not the songs that are least memorable on a Mogwai album are the one's which feature vocals. Sure Mogwai can write a traditional rock song, but their strength has always been in crafting monumental instrumentals that smolder and burn. "Mexican Grand Prix" does kind of rock, it has a great rhythm and it starts to really pick up toward the end, but it just isn't that special compared to, say, "Rano Pano," which follows and blows the album right out into the cosmos.

"Rano Pano" is all that is great and grand about Mogwai, and maybe the single best song they have written since "Rock Action." It starts with a single crushing guitar laying down the track's basic refrain, before another blown out guitar joins in, and then another. Bass and drums follow, bashing out the rhythm before eventually higher-pitched electronics come in and float over the song's surface providing a chasmic contrast between the song's high-end and low-end. It's just a great massive fucking slice of Mogwai goodness. It's the kind of track that you would adopt as your personal soundtrack if you were ever to do something really heroic and epic, or, more realistically, that you listen to while reading a Dark Knight comic book for effect.

While nothing really matches the intensity and power of "Rano Pano" on the rest of the album, "Hardcore Will Never Die" is populated with plenty of excellent tracks. "Death Rays" is a particularly great song. It begins as a pleasant and subtle post-rock piece, but one that doesn't really do anything too spectacular. That all changes mid-way through the track when the band pauses for a ponderous organ bridge that leads to a much more explosive second half. It's one of the tracks that took me a while to really unpack and appreciate, but has since become a favorite.

Other tracks I am still deliberating over. "San Pedro" is a more traditional rock piece sans lyrics, but one that boils over with fury as the track progresses. Initially I couldn't get over how it sounds like a misstep into traditional rock territory, like a Smashing Pumpkin's outtake, but I still keep coming back to it for the violent and almost, but not quite, unhinged second half. "George Square Thatcher Death Party," on the other hand, has been deliberated over and decided on. It's another one of those throwaway vocal tracks that is never going to catch no matter how many times I listen to it and no matter how much it starts to pile on the rock at the end.

One of the album's most pleasant surprises is "How To Be A Werewolf." It is brighter than most Mogwai tracks, but just as potent as some of their darker works. Previously I had never been a big believer in Mogwai does sunshine, but this track changes my opinion considerably. Its krautrockish rhythm and progressively louder and shiner guitars makes it a perfect soundtrack for a spring country drive that is full of life and promise.

The album comes to a close finding the band returning to their ponderous darker sound with a couple of tracks that deserve extra attention. "Too Raging To Cheers" and "You're Lionel Richie" is the band doing what they do best - creating epic, heavy and atmospheric mountains of sound. Yeah these guys have done this kind of thing going on 14 years now, but it still manages to sound earth-shattering and immensely moving. In short, they are still making the sounds that stars make. It is timeless, powerful and primal. 14 years from now I will still want to hear "Lionel Richie" and "Rano Pano," and they will still resonate in my very core in a way that precious few records do. And that is the best recommendation I can give. "Hardcore" is not a perfect album, but for the few inconsistent tracks that are present, there are many more that will shake you, elate you and make you feel in ways that bands that are not Mogwai simply cannot.

"Rano Pano"

Mogwai - Rano Pano from Rock Action on Vimeo.