Woove staff writer Stu Ruiz reviews the latest from post-rock Scottish band Mogwai.

Judging by the name, I imagined Mogwai’s latest, Hardcore Will Never Die, but You Will (2011), was going to come from a post-rock band ready to embrace their punk influences, releasing a snarling beast of an album full of tunes waiting to reach into the ears and rip off the heads of all those not hardcore enough to heed its call.  Instead, the band has released probably its most subdued yet; more focused on texture than energy.  Mogwai uses the interplay of timbres as much as the melodies to make their effect, and the result is a richly nuanced album that, while lacking in the moments of unhinged glory the band specializes in, still packs an emotional wallop and offers an engaging listen from start to finish.

First off, let’s get what this album is lacking out of the way. Those looking for the churning guitar freak outs of Young Team or the sludgy hard rock of “Batcat” off of 2008’s The Hawk is Howling will be sorely disappointed. From the beginning, Mogwai’s music has been heavy on atmosphere and mood, but never before have the songs been so wholly focused on building and sustaining both. Most of the tracks start off with a simple melody or drum pattern that is then fleshed out as each player enters and adds their own dimension to the song. It’s hardly a new formula and one that would normally be dreadfully boring, if not for the excellent performances. 

The album kicks off with “White Noise” and is fairly representative of what the album has in store.  The song begins with a web of muted guitar lines and echoed piano figures, but soon the keyboard overwhelms the arrangement with a central melody that carries the song for the duration, as new parts weave in and out, culminating in a lightning-fast strummed guitar piercing through the mix.  It’s a powerful piece and a good indicator of the essential contributions keyboardist Barry Burns adds to the record.  First single Rano Pano is the first time the guitars are cranked to their full Mogwai glory, as fuzzed out guitars are layered seemingly ad-infinitum all on top of a thick, biting bass line.  It’s a wonderful overload of textures that one expects to boil over into spastic fits of noise, but instead is rounded out with wavering keyboard melodies that lock into step with one another.  The track is more scenic city-scape through a haze of smoke and lights than the punch to the gut Mogwai would offer at any other time in their career, and it’s this kind of trade-off that defines the record.

There is certainly an emotional arc running through Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, as each song sucks the listener into a new scene before effortlessly shifting tone and evoking new imagery, but as with any instrumental album it’s hard to find any concrete meaning, no matter how much the material suggests.  Two tracks actually do have vocals, but on both the words are completely indecipherable, although “George Square Thatcher Death Party” sounds like a wonderfully beefed up Yo La Tengo.  The set culminates with the humorously titled but emotionally performed “You’re Lionel Richie.”  The track starts off with an atmospheric mix of washed keyboards and a growling bass line before collapsing into a single guitar piece that eventually fades away, and is replaced with a stomping, distorted riff echoing variations on the same melody.  The result is a breathtaking piece and a perfect ending to an album more characterized by restraint than heavy outbursts.

Hardcore Will Never Die, but You Will won’t be counted as this band’s best album, and to the casual listener it will probably come off as just pleasant, but what the band has done here is an impressive showing of both artistry and craftsmanship.  The album plays like a series of paintings, each one existing to absorb the listener, pour out its heart, and then fade into the next.  This isn’t going to blow too many people away with overt genius, but for those willing to dive in, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will has a lot to offer.