Mogwai
Rave Tapes Album Review
Sub Pop Records
Released January 20, 2014
Genre: Post Rock, Progressive Rock, Electronic Rock
*For those new to the post-rock genre, the concept is very simple. Take the instruments of rock music, electric guitars, drums, bass etc., take away the vocals and play the instruments to move the music like words would do. See Explosions In The Sky, This Will Destroy You and Godspeed You! Black Emperor for examples.*
Why does everything have to be electronic nowadays in order to be well received? We got electronic induced rock (Imagine Dragons), electronic, minimal pop (Lorde) and mentioning the loads of dubstep that’s out there would be useless to our modern society. Is it because of the ever looming technological era, or is it an evolution in our taste in music? If it’s the latter, artists shouldn’t conform just to appeal to the public. It ruins the whole point of an artist’s integrity. If you’re going use electronic elements with your music, make something of it and not a carbon copy of some Top 40 hits. Conforming turns the musician into a puppet, and honestly, it feels too contrived to even enjoy. However, Mogwai takes a very unique approach to electronic music.
Scottish post-rock outfit Mogwai has a very consistent track record. Past releases such as 2011’s Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will and even 1993s Young Team showed that Mogwai is capable of both soft, emotional ballads commonly seen on an album by post-rock kings Explosions In The Sky and menacing, triumphant odes one will see on a Godspeed You! Black Emperor album. Here with Rave Tapes, Mogwai neither lifts up nor chases away listeners as they bring in electronic instrumentation. Sadly, this isn’t their Kid A(a critically acclaimed album by English rock group Radio). Almost felt like the path of Radiohead now did it?
Take Radiohead’s seminal album Kid A or perhaps Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon as examples, two albums that changed the music scene because of the revolutionary sound. At each album’s time, 2000 and 1973 respectively, the sounds of wobbly synths, samples, and loops were incredibly uncommon and dissonant of the generation so used to grunge and rock, respectively. But I do believe that many artists, inspired by the ambition and audacity of Radiohead and Pink Floyd, followed suit and helped kickstart this revolution of electronic music. Mogwai takes a very predictable and underwhelming approach towards their potent mic of instrumental and triumphant sound.
The opening track, “Heard About You Last Night,” slowly and solemnly brings the listener to a dismal landscape. It feels like an interlude off of Deafheaven’s 2013 masterpiece, Sunbather where hypnotizing guitars weave around drummer Martin Bulloch’s background-music style beat. Now, the Mogwai we love to hear appears on the track “Remurdered” where the foreboding keyboard riff carries the song through out its six minute length. A compelling track that shows that Mogwai can still pull off the magic they deliver on almost every release.
But nothing here ever feels emotional. None of it feels intimate. The only tracks that strive for a cathartic climax are “Hexon Bogon” and “Deesh”, but the experience feels rather distancing. “Hexon Bogon” uses distortion to steadily grow into a cloud of noise while “Deesh” follows suit, using synths as its weapon of choice, fully exercising the new artistic vision that Mogwai had set for this album. “Repelish” features an odd vocal clip that condemns hedonism in rock. It just feels awkward and gives a message that isn’t shown throughout the whole album. It’s at this point where Mogwai shows that it is lost.
Mogwai is known for their experimentation and bold ambition. Jumping from ambiance to noise rock and now electronic rock, the band is one of the most creative post-rock acts out there. But on an album that doesn’t deliver the emotional intensity that engages the listener, Mogwai shows that they’ve fallen, pretty far too.
Now while this album does feel underwhelming, I do applaud the technical production behind it. However, like I said, Mogwai is great at making post-apocalyptic, emotional post-rock odes that make you cry or scream. Here, we have an album that doesn’t achieve either feat previously accomplished. But what if it’s a change? It is a change in their style; Mogwai was born to rock, but this album is merely middle of the road and frankly, lifeless. They’ve drained themselves of the power they once had. It appears that the electronics have overcome Mogwai. Now, they’re less personal and less human.
FAV TRACKS: Remurdered, Hexon Bogon, Master Card, Blues Hour, The Lord Is Out Of Control
LEAST FAV TRACKS: Heard About You Last Night, Repelish
Score: (6.4/10)
