Come on Die Young

Mogwai: Barry Burns (guitar, flute, keyboards); Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, keyboards, percussion); John Cummings (guitar, piano); Dominic Aitchison (guitar, bass); Martin Bulloch (drums).
Additional personnel: Dave Fridmann (various instruments); Richard Formby (lap steel); Luke Sutherland (violin); Wayne Myers (trombone).
Recorded at Tarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York and Cava, Glasgow, Scotland.
At the time of its release, Mogwai's second album was as polarizing as it was unexpected. Instead of returning to the extreme dynamic shifts of their singles collection Ten Rapid and their first full-length, Young Team, the band explored elongated, implosive territory that ultimately became as vital to their music as their dramatic softs and louds, especially on works like Mr. Beast and Rave Tapes. Even the album's ironic title -- borrowed from Glasgow gang jargon -- signaled the sardonic sense of humor that Mogwai revisited on Rock Action and Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Where their free-form noise improvisations were immediately enthralling on Young Team and Ten Rapid, here each song blends into the next, creating the impression of one endless track that teeters between deliberately dreamy crawls and random bursts of noise. Still, the sheer sweep of "Chocky" and "Christmas Steps" makes them instant standouts, as well as blueprints for the more intricate albums the band made in the 2000s and onward. A transitional album, Come on Die Young revealed Mogwai as a band unafraid of shaking things up even in the face of success -- an approach that served them well throughout their career. ~ Heather Phares