When the inside cover is unfolded, part of the logo for Mwng, an album by Super Furry Animals released the previous year, can be seen. The photographs that make up the artwork for the album were taken in a bar in Glasgow called Nice 'n' Sleazy. So the song was about that." The song "2 "Rights Make 1 Wrong" was originally titled "Banjo". It puts you in a weird place when you're making a phone call. But in Welsh, dial – pronounced 'dee-al' – means revenge. When you take a payphone off the hook, on the LCD screen it flashes 'DIAL'. Back then, people were still using payphones. Rhys has said of the song title: "I think (Mogwai) were into me writing in Welsh, because they're an instrumental band and they wanted a singer who would be just sounds for most people. The single "Dial: Revenge" features Welsh vocals from Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals. The tone of Rock Action is somewhat less dark than previous works, but maintains Mogwai's cryptic cynicism. For the first time, Mogwai utilised synthesizers, expanding their timbral palette. While song structures on this album are typical of the band in most cases and respects, some of the contrasting dynamics have been toned down slightly and many of the songs focus more on texture than on structure. At this point, Mogwai is just playing for the converted, but I'd still put their last three albums up against their first three any day.Rock Action brought with it some changes to Mogwai's sound that they would continue to develop later, including the use of electronic instruments. A limited edition bonus disc, featuring music for an art installation by Douglas Gordon and Olaf Nicolai, is appealing in an ambient way. Hardcore has plenty of ethereal charm coupled with the occasional foray in rawkin'. Hardcore is perhaps too good at being subtle.īut hey, this is Mogwai we're talking about. Sure, it's instrumental music, but any Mogwai fan should be able to recall the guitar work on "Like Herod" or the way the drums and synth intertwine on "The Sun Smells Too Loud". The record passes by pleasantly while it's on, but after a week of listening I'm still not retaining too much.
It's not the worst Mogwai record (I'd go with Come On Die Young, personally), but it's certainly not their best, either. This tune is slow and heavy, and while it could use a nice guitar freakout, there's something comforting about the way Mogwai adds layers and layers of noise in a nice succession.īut that's Hardcore's problem. Mogwai likes to rock, though, so Young Team fans should enjoy the lumbering "Rano Pano".
Still, this makes for excellent background music. The whispered, vocoder-tweaked vocals seem superfluous. Opener "White Noise" is hypnotically droning and announces a newfound love of electronics, but "Mexican Grand Prix" takes that love too far, with organ blaring and syncopated beats bumping. Speaking as a fan of Young Team's heaviness and Hawk's expansiveness in equal measures, I find Hardcore middling.
And on top of that, it takes a hilariously hardcore title and wastes it on a delicate post-rock album. It's yet another record that defies the heavy rock of Mogwai's debut, Young Team. It's less anthemic than its predecessor, the underrated The Hawk Is Howling. Mogwai's new album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will has a lot working against it.
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