When a band like Mogwai makes their bread and butter on mostly instrumental post-rock, what is there left to “say” when they don’t always speak for themselves? While many of their contemporaries have outworn their welcome, the Glasgow greats have constantly evolved since their 1997 debut Young Team. With their aptly named 10th release As The Love Continues, the band kicks against the notions associated with the band’s early sound by introducing new instrumental elements like lush strings and heavily affected vocals, but it’s not enough to carry the album out of its predictability.
With As The Love Continues, Mogwai generally follows the formula they’ve had since the beginning. Start quiet, build to cataclysmic crescendos, ride back down until the song is over. Rinse, wash and repeat.
While Mogwai do occasionally include a song or two on their albums with vocals from guitarist Stuart Braithwaite — like the album’s single, “Ritchie Sacramento” — they tend to not make enough space for the vocals to shine in a way that is discernible. They instead choose to introduce the human voice like another instrument, to provide a melody within the mix as the band rages on.
As time passed, the Mogwai’s sound has evolved from organic, clean sounding slow-core guitars that made you feel as though you were viewing the curvature of the Earth from some oceanside cliff, to more angular sonic choices. As they began to incorporate synths and electronic elements into their arsenal, Mogwai’s music began to feel less and less Earthbound as if they were shedding away structures as they left gravity behind. With their newest entry in their long-running catalog, the band seems content to be content drifting in orbit.
But if you have been a fan of Mogwai, and have been over the years, all of this criticism could sound like a reinforcement of their strengths. Mogwai shouldn’t be expected to fix a leak in a boat that is happily cruising on peaceful waters. If anything, the recent and successful campaign to get them to top the UK charts is a testament to that. And the times they nail it on this record, they really nail it. The album starts out incredibly strong with the two post-rock workouts “To Be The Bin My Friend, We Vacate The Earth” and “Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever.” Later, the towering, slow-motion synth explosion in the climax of “Fuck Off Money” and the righteous riffing on brief “Ceiling Granny” packs for a satisfying one-two punch in the album’s back half.
While these moments may remind you of the undeniable power Mogwai is capable of, the formula they rely on time and time again can get pretty predictable, causing a lulling effect. Working in a live setting, building these epic peaks in their tracks by layering instruments and effects can be stirring right down to your core. But what would really be exciting would be to see how Mogwai would adapt to subtracting from their sound. Even astronauts need to come back down to Earth after all.
Essential Tracks: “Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever” and “Fuck Off Money”
Prerequisites: Mogwai’s Young Team and Explosions in the Sky’s The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place