This Is Not TV

Glasgow’s Mogwai, seminal post-rocksters and shunners of lyrics, have been responsible for more than their fair share of incidental music, so it is nice to see them return the favour and pen this tribute to the cartoon within a cartoon character from ‘Charlie and Lola’… (whispering and muttering in background followed by the loud exclamation “are you sure it’s nothing to do with that? Okay, but I’ve written it now, so it stays in.”) Ahem. Taken from the new album, ‘The Hawk Is Howling’, John Cummings song that has nothing to do with quirky Cbeebies cartoon is as dense as a new born black hole or your average BNP supporter… see if that doesn’t upset someone.

Making up the core of this five minute plus stoner epic from John Cummings is a huge barrage of fuzzed up guitars and Kyuss heavy bass – a real Brontosaurus of hardcore noise that betrays their My Bloody Valentine influences but also demonstrates an ability to wade in belligerently that most climax-rock bands lack.

Around this core flutter less heavy but still weighty riffs a la Pelican, skirting the event horizon before being sucked into the atom crushing heart. The pulse, however, is not as ponderous as you’d expect – the bpm’s are light, almost poppy, lending the track some unexpected lightness – a corona if you will. But the critical mass is inescapable and, quite frankly, inviting. Wall of sound? Hole in sound, with a melody on the edge of forever.

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For all that quiet/LOUD is a generic contrivance, ‘Young Team’ sounded pretty vital eleven years ago and still does. It wasn’t the first record to fashion these elements together, it’s not even the best record that this band have made, but it was the first chance for Mogwai to construct the rock album of their dreams and that makes it noteworthy.

In this re-issued anniversary deluxe bonanza edition, the contents are not a surprise. Yet, at the same time, they retain their power to shock. The album has been remastered for extra volume, with the teetering riffs and crashing drums of ‘Like Herod’ being the most obvious beneficiary. Finally, the track has some of the sheer gravity that it achieves when they play it live, as can be heard on disc Two’s live version (recorded at T In The Park). At the tail end of the album, another anthem ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ launches itself on a mazy run of rolling drumbeats, flute and hazy distortion, and again benefits from the louder mix. The version of ‘Fear Satan’ recorded at Chemikal Underground’s fifth birthday bash sounds like a rocket taking off, and the crowd held it’s collective breath as if it was on the ground at Cape Canaveral.

As well as various then-contemporary live recordings, disc two features four rare studio tracks, at least three of which are strong enough for inclusion on the album. The best of these is ‘Honey’, their superb version of the opening track on Spacemen 3’s ‘Playing With Fire’ which was one of the most ambitious recordings of their early phase.

So, the contents are not a surprise. Layered melody, menace, threat, beauty, noise. And soul. That’s important.

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