MOGWAI - Classic or Dud?

I still post like that!

Tim, what does it for you with Rock Action? I think it's a fantastic record, but it doesn't give me the glazed eyes quite like Young Team or parts of Ten Rapid. It's more consistent, maybe, but less intense. The slower, prettier tracks on Rock Action have a deliberateness, a literalness about them, whereas early "ballads" like "Tracy" or "Helicon 2" are gauzier, dreamier, more enveloping. That's just me.

I'll answer your question a bit later Clarke when I've thought about it more.

Gygax's comments re: Young Team are completely otm. I've never understood the fawning over that record. Yes, there are intense moments on YT that can't be found on any of their other albums, but there's a load of filler too. Once I discovered live Mogwai bootlegs I discovered I didn't need YT to get my Mogwai Fear Satan fix anymore.

I never listen to CODY, incidentally. Love the EP in between CODY and Rock ActioN though.

That would be me! And the new one too, though I don't listen to it anywhere as much.

Reasonably accurate. After reading a number of interviews with the band, they sounded like a band I would like -- brimming with a healthy disdain for pretty much everything else. Likewise, the influences they'd continually cite -- Stooges, Sabbath, etc. -- all suggested that their music would be right up my alley. Hate to say, however, but I just found their music to be staggeringly dull. Still do

Mogwai seem to be everything to everyone, because with the exception of "Ratts in the Capital," Happy Songs absolutely melts into a single blob of tepidness.

CODY blurs into one big homogenous blob for me.

tracy is one of the most beautiful tracks imaginable,and mogwai fear satan is incredible,really immense sounding without being ridiculous...
loads of the eps and other stuff were really good as well,and cody had its moments,but i never loved it as much as the others,although the run of three tracks towards the end was excellent...

they were great all the times i saw them live as well

i haven't really kept up with them though,i heard and quite liked rock action but never really bothered to get it,and i haven't heard anything since (unless that jewish hymn thing came out since then,which i really liked...)

this thread has made me really want to dig out some of their stuff,i must have a look....

thinking about it,its weird,cause i haven't payed attention to much of that sort of music in ages,even though i used to love it,and in a way it was mogwai who got me out of it,since i heard of surgeon through them and subsequently got into techno...

(i can't find any of my mogwai cds,its wrecking my head)

Well when it comes to Young Team I'd say more like Smashing Pumpkins.

On the way up, only Hunted By A Freak and Ratts Of The Capital grabbed me at all. On the way back just now I thought I'd give it another try - Ratts Of The Capital didn't sound as good as it did yesterday. Hmm.

Jesus! Thanks for the tip. I might have bought that thing on a whim or something someday.

Yeah really good new album. Really enjoyed the recorded gig the other night as well. A truly immersive experience although i'd had a few ales, the light show got me.

Saw them in Cologne in 97 or 98 and was the loudest show ever. Later gigs didn't quite achieve that ear splitting volume.

oh I LOVE that clip of Xmas Steps, Stuart jumps like he's been shot when the bass comes in

single sounds like Snow Patrol

I'd like to hear some Snow Patrol sounding that good. Not being snide, I'd genuinely appreciate a recommendation.

gigography link to that Irving Plaza show with a comment about the Don't Do It as well

Heh, it's the first thing anyone would mention who was at that show.
I was talking to a friend I didn't know until years later and it transpired that we were both in attendance... And immediately like, we just looked at each other grinning and shouted out "DON'T DO IT!!" in unison.

i was disappointed too that they only played 4 songs

Well tbf, all 4 of them were 10 minutes long.

I probably saw more shows in September 1999 than any other month which is kinda crazy b/c I was 15 years old at the time. I think the Mogwai/Ganger and Godspeed/Labradford shows were a few days before school started, but the Matador 10th show was on like a Monday or Tuesday night and I had a history test the next day. Relatedly, this was right around the time I started failing out of school.

Anyway some quick thoughts.

That song sounds like M83

Very nice message just sent out via their Bandcamp:

It is 25 years this week since the release of our first single Tuner/Lower, the first release on Rock Action Records. We started the label (named after Stooges drummer Scott Asheton) with a loan of £400 from my sister Victoria’s boyfriend (now husband) Jared. Martin’s folks generously helped us out by paying for the studio to record the songs. We folded the record sleeves up one by one in my bedroom at my parents house. I had every expectation that most of them were going to be hard to get rid of and would remain in a pile in my bedroom for some time. Thankfully that wasn’t to be the case.

We didn’t start the band or the label to get in to charts. That would have seemed insane. We were just kids that wanted to make an amazing noise and get our record played on John Peel. Amazingly John did play the record, and one thing led to another to get us to the point we’re at now. Its been an incredible journey making music together over the last quarter century, taking us to places we never dreamed of and getting to play our music to more people than we ever imagined. None of us ever envisaged either the band or the label being in a position where having a number one record would be a possibility.

As it stands our new album As The Love Continues is number one in the UK charts. It's something we’re amazed by. We’re taken aback by everyone’s support, kindness and generosity. It means so much to us and would be incredible if we could hold on to remain number one when the chart comes out on Friday. For that to happen we need everyone’s help by buying the record and streaming it as much as possible. We are so grateful for all the support we’ve received so far and with just a few more days of it we can do something pretty amazing.

If you've bought the album via Bandcamp but haven't yet downloaded, the UK charts will only register the sale once it's downloaded so if you can...it'd be appreciated.

Cheers!
Stuart
Mogwai

They just tweeted Ricky Gervais asking to plug their album then deleted it

I still don't know why more people weren't talking about ZeroZeroZero, an international drug trafficking drama on Amazon Prime that was so great, but anyway Mogwai did the soundtrack and it works really well in the show

Limmy has given them a plug! And he doesn't plug just anyone

As it stands our new album As The Love Continues is number one in the UK charts.

holy shit.
hope they pull it off!

been loving the full on twitter party re this.
if it happens then the poor buggers cant even go to the pub and celebrate.

Never had them down as a band who’d beg people to buy their album to get a number 1 but fair fuck’s to them if they pull it off

I would not have expected it either, but then I also never would have imagined they'd even have a shot! So good on them, really.

Next step, Christmas #1

Why are post-rock bands so...inconsistent with their volume levels? Mogwai plays Atomic was polite where it should have howled, while GYBE's last tour was simply deafening

Great success

“It’s been an incredible journey...” Mogwai (@mogwaiband) score their first Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart with As The Love Continues ❤️ https://t.co/xwNrF1Agwv

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) February 26, 2021

ah that's nice for them

BOOM. Stuart was just on Scottish TV news talking about it. I had a wee lump in my throat.

Never had them down as a band who’d beg people to buy their album to get a number 1 but fair fuck’s to them if they pull it off

it must be pretty exciting to be in with a chance of having a no. 1. More power to them i say.

i don't keep up with them that much these days but thinking back to 20 odd years ago when it was so cool to me that barry burns' girlfriend's gran lived in my street, stuart had went to my high school, and that my pop punk band "the dirty lovers" (that never played a gig) practiced at the same place where they had recorded young team it does really warm the heart to see them achieve this milestone

Mogwai (@mogwaiband) score their first Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart

awesome

Never had them down as a band who’d beg people to buy their album to get a number 1

they can totally pull it off because it's such an unlikely #1, it's a shared victory

Mogwai plays Atomic was polite where it should have howled, while GYBE's last tour was simply deafening

Precisely the inverse of the Sept 99 gigs lol. "Polite where it should have howled" describes that GYBE set perfectly.

i don't keep up with them that much these days

I've heard all of 2 tracks they've done since Rock Action tbh

They were one of my favorite bands in 97-98, CODY was a bit disappointing. YT sounds amazing, hiring Dave Fridmann to make a Steve Albini record was a misstep imo.

rock action is my favorite mogwai album lol, all killer no filler

i liked ex-cowboy but it feels unfinished structurally or something. my favorite pieces of theirs were things like Summer and Katrien where Dominic leads

I liked the track with Gruff Rhys the most on Rock Action, SFA were my other fave then

"barry burns' girlfriend's gran lived in my street"

can I get your autograph pls

onya fellas

listened to a few songs off the album, file under enjoyable

I'm a big fan still and love the new album. Really pleased for them.

About 2/3rds of the way through Stuart's book right now, it's.. fine, as far as these type of fucks go. Nothing really revelatory, but I actually found his early show going career list more endearing and relatable than Thurston's (for a recent comparison).

Seems like he mostly regrets coming off like such an abrasive knob in early interviews, basically it sounds like the more he mouthed off the more print they got and he was happy to feed it if it meant more coverage for the band, even if he felt conflicted about it. He also seems to regret the Blur shirt thing, not that he doesn't think Blue are shite, but rather that he thinks the timing of the shirts shot themselves in the foot a little in the long run.