If you’re well versed in 80s film, the first thought it brings to mind may be “cute, adorable and furry creature.” If you’re well versed in Cantonese, you may translate it as “ghost, demon or devil.” If you’re well versed in instrumental rock with dramatic soft-loud dynamics, heavy melodic bass lines and precocious use of electronics and distortion, then you will think of none other than Stuart Braithwaite, John Cummings, Barry Burns, Dominic Aitchison and Martin Bulloch: the Scottish post-rock overlords of the band Mogwai.
Since the defining criteria of the post-rock genre has always been somewhat flimsy, the band has been marked up with home branded categories, such as “comatose post-punk,” “foggy shoegaze,” or “art metal.” Picking up influences from other postmodern ‘90s flag bearers, such as Sonic Youth and Slint, and further influencing other post-rock beloveds, such as God Speed You Black Emperor! and Sigur Rós, they continue onward with the soon scheduled release of their seventh album, Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will.
While most similar post-rock bands seek to build up a cornucopia of surrealistic soundscapes and ethereal imagery in your mind, Mogwai proves with their single “Rano Pano” that they seek to tear all of that down with crashing, distorted waves and chasmal methods of aural surgery. You get a quick dose of blissful anesthesia with the opening of their next single, “You’re Lionel Richie,” but it then soon plunges you back into anamorphic depths of eerie yet tantalizingly structured guitar riffs and bass melodies.
Constantly progressing and outperforming their earlier works, this upcoming album looks like it will definitely be worth its salt. Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will is scheduled for release on Feb. 15 and you can listen to their single “Rano Pano” on the Sub Pop Records website, SubPop.com. If this album makes you sing their praises, then be sure to catch them live when they tour through on May 3 at the Avalon in Salt Lake.
