What the burgeoning post-rock, lo-fi movement lacks in amplification, it more than makes up for in beautiful aural whispers that put substance over volume. Besides, there are only so many dropped-D riffs you can listen to in a summer of testosterone-charged rock a la Ozzfest, Summer Sanitarium and the ubiquitous Warped Tour.
Scottish post-rockers, Mogwai, have offered one of the best anti-rock statements of the summer (and perhaps the year) with a nine-song collection Happy Songs For Happy People, and by doing so they’ve made every dollar of your parents’ money spent on a stunning pair of Sennheisers well worth it.
Mogwai was formed by guitarist/vocalist Stuart Braithwaite and bassist Dominic Aitchison in 1995. Over the years, the Glasgow quintet has shifted from an edgy rock experiment into an increasingly subtle, nuanced act that has been aligned with the revered Sigur Ros and praised by hipster deity Stephen Malkmus of Pavement fame.
Cased in a Reynolds Wrap-like shell, Happy Songs For Happy People is a stunning foray into the very best that the lo-fi movement has to offer. Ballad staples like cello, piano and violin work in a less-obvious fashion. Rather than simply riding a guitar riff like a nu-metal ballad, the outside instrumentation on Happy Songs For Happy People builds fine layers that give the melodies room to breathe, meander, and exist, rather than shove them down your throat in a pre-packaged Clear Channel chewable.
The lead track, “Hunted By A Freak,” is one of the few moments on the disc where you’ll hear vocals — indecipherable vocals at that — but the tune’s melody is addictive and, like most of the album, is the kind of alluring, cinematic experimentation that’s enough to get you hooked after one listen. The delicate crescendo and swelling undercurrent of the tune make it the antithesis of much of today’s music.
While Happy Songs does align itself with the refined, there are those moments where the music bursts like a Boss Pedal through a Mesa Boogie. One such moment is in “Killing All The Flies,” when at the midpoint of the song, Braithwaite and fellow guitarist John Cumming’s guitars shake you just hard enough to wake you out of the peaceful slumber the album has lulled you into.
Another one of the eye-opening twists on Happy Songs takes place in the epic “Ratts of the Capital,” which, by the four-and-a-half-minute mark, begins to sound like a classic Tool breakdown. The bent notes, the swirl of phased distortion and the crunch of the main riff make the unusual loud moment stick out like a sore thumb.
It’s all a set-up, though — “Golden Porsche” undercuts its predecessor’s stomp and offers simple piano refrains atop the chaste drums of Martin Bulloch. A deeply embedded cello gives further gravity to the basic track. “I Know You Are But What Am I?” feels removed from a Kubrick film. The single piano note repetition mimics the score of “Eyes Wide Shut,” giving stark imagery direction and a bit of gloss in an otherwise matte environment.
The closer, “Stop Coming To My House,” is the fade-out shot, the perfect conclusion to an album — an audio film, which under the right conditions has the potential to open your mind to new musical possibilities.
Although it remains difficult to market a band with little to no lyrics, Mogwai doesn’t have intentions of winning a VMA or performing on “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Years Eve.” No, Happy Songs For Happy People is the kind of surprise that ends up perfectly complementing those moments in your life where it seems like the only thing separating your experience from the movies is a gorgeous musical landscape.
Grade: A
