Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die. But You Will

Now described as veterans, Mogwai were the king pins of the once-sprawling post-rock scene and now one of the few survivors mainly thanks to their superb life affirming live shows and consistent recording history. To some ears they have been smooth sailing for a number of years now so what will a new album bring? The opener, the misleadingly titled 'White Noise' is 'classic' Mogwai if such a thing exists. Containing a melodic ascending chord structure with a neat melancholic instrumental tune, a 'Tracy' for the 21st Century. I'm not as convinced by the single, the Neu-ish 'Mexican Grand Prix', in which I'm struggling to find a tune. 'Rano Pano' again has the wandering circling melodies they excel at, the production is odd though. Everything is heavily effected, cluttered and digitized so that the overall sound is akin to Mogwai being caught in a wind tunnel. Though I'm not overall happy with the production, tracks like 'Death Rays' show they really haven't lost their knack of producing interesting, engaging instrumentals despite the fact that they appear to be relying more on keyboards and effects these days. Overall the album neither treads water, nor attempts to re-invent the wheel which is probably a good place for these hardy Glaswegians to be in. This will certainly keep long term fans happy whilst hopefully it sounds interesting enough to newcomers as the tunes are rather immediate and neatly showcase what Mogwai are all about.