Rock Action with Mogwai

What do you do when you achieve perfection almost instantly? Mogwai have been answering this question for the better part of a decade, with varying degrees of success. Their debut, Young Team, was hailed almost universally as a masterpiece, and rightly so. Their subsequent albums have traded in the huge, epic interplay of dynamics for a quieter and, in many cases, more sophisticated take on the genre that people call "post-rock" (although Tortoise has a near-monopoly on "sophisticated post-rock," if you ask me). And, in my opinion, they haven't gotten nearly enough credit for what they've been doing, as I think that Rock Action and Happy Songs for Happy People are the equals of Young Team, depending on what kind of mood I'm in.

With that in mind, I expected something similar for Mr. Beast, their newest and most hilariously titled album. And for one track, the opening "Auto Rock," this holds true, with bubbling synths and a piano motif making up the center of the song.

Then something unexpected happens: "Glasgow Mega Snake" kicks in, and Mogwai cut loose with a screaming, heavy rocker, the kind that make you wonder if the sound could possibly get any more huge, right before it does just that. Take note, people: Mogwai are still kings of the genre, even if only for that fleeting moment.

And fleeting it is, because the album then settles into moody, "atmospheric" rock, and never really comes back. It's not immediately engaging, which isn't a bad thing, but it is a problem that it rarely rises above the level of vaguely satisfying background music, roughly equal to 1999's mostly hit-or-miss Come On Die Young. It's ground they've covered before, and done a much better job with it.

Overall, I'd say I'm mildly disappointed. It's somehow worse having been teased with the promise of a song as great as "Glasgow Mega Snake," but at least we have that one. When I make my list of my favorite songs at the end of 2006, I can almost guarantee that one a spot. (How dorky is it that I'm even thinking about that right now?)