Album #37 : Mogwai - Rave Tapes

Mogwai

Rave Tapes (2014)

I'm only moderately familiar with the work of Scottish post-rockers Mogwai. Chalk it down to a previous lack of interest in post-rock's textured nuance and lack of vocals. Having said that, they are probably one of the more 'rock' sounding post-rock groups, favouring a guitar-driven and bass-heavy sound compared to some of their contemporaries, who are comfortable combining a wider range of instruments. For that reason, they theoretically should be a post-rock band I dig.

After Tortoise piqued my further interest in post-rock, I decided to review Rave Tapes, the new Mogwai release. I was pleasantly surprised.

The Album

The majority of songs on Rave Tapes are indeed heavily guitar driven, though some are wildly different in tone. Master Card and Hexon Bogon are heavier in approach, built around louder and more insistent riffs. Both were not only great pieces of music but rocked really hard. Conversely, opener Heard About You Last Night, Blues Hour and Repelish are slower and mellower guitar-based tunes, relying on arpeggios and softer melodies. Heard About... also interchanges the guitar lines with a really beautiful piano melody, which lingers in the memory after the song is completed. There's also an intriguing (and humourous) spoken word accompaniment to Repelish, where an American religious dude (or someone pretending to be such) is talking about reversed Satanic messages on Stairway to Heaven....it's disappointing because this track is absolutely brilliant.

There's also a smattering of more synthesiser/electronic based tracks, the most notable of which are Simon Ferocious (which uses an electronic riff that sounds like 1980s digitised music that might be produced by a Commodore Amiga) and the atmospheric, moody Remurdered, with its similar use of 1980s music stylings (this time in the drums) and some truly gorgeous layering of synth lines.

The album, as is the norm for post-rock, uses vocals very sparingly. Apart from the aforementioned spoken word interlude, there's a surprisingly prominent vocal line on Blues Hour that adds little to the song, in fairness. The album closer The Lord Is Out Of Control is more typical of the way post-rock bands use vocals; heavily vocoded, the vocal line acts as another instrument, another (wonderful) layer to the sound.

Something else that separates the work on this album with, say, Tortoise's work, is that while Tortoise are experts at building to crescendos, on Rave Tapes, Mogwai act as musical cockteases, showing signs that songs are building to sweeping, anthemic glory...only to stop short every single time. It doesn't hold the album back as such, and in some ways it shows admirable restraint from the band not to do what is expected, but it means the album doesn't have any 'wow' moments.

Nevertheless, Rave Tapes has plenty of 'oooh' moments, such is the beauty of much of the material on the album.

The Verdict

Lovers of post-rock will love Rave Tapes. Mogwai have created another good album to add to their extensive collection of critically-acclaimed post-rock sonic adventures. I actually think that for the more casual music listener, or for those of you who enjoy rock music, this album would be more up your alley than Tortoise's work. 

Although it may not be their best album, I think Rave Tapes would act as a very good way to introduce someone to the world of post-rock. It's not a difficult listen and it features all the post-rock hallmarks.

I enjoyed it very much.

My rating: *** and a half

Standout Tracks

Remurdered

Master Card

Heard About You Last Night

Tomorrow? Elton John.