Behind the belligerent punk attitude, Mogwai often display an acute musical sensibility. Whether it’s utilising stately pianos and glockenspiels or guitar-battering crescendos, there’s a gnarly tension matched only by their melodic complexity. Happy Songs… refines their grandiose panoramics via electronic gurgles and glitches. There’s even a muffled Vocoder on “Killing All The Flies”. Notably, the quiet-to-loud gymnastics are replaced by more even-handed dramatics. Occasionally, a flat production blunts the fine detail, and the likes of “Kids Will Be Skeletons”pass by too easily. Otherwise, as somnambulant and blissful as usual.
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