COME ON DIE YOUNG

"Come On Die Young" isn't a disaster, but it's a disappointment nevertheless.

After the successful and praised "Young Team", Mogwai had still a lot to prove, but from there on they never reached the same levels as the debut. "Come On Die Young" is the follow up, and I have to say it is the least enjoyable Mogwai album I've heard so far.

First off, the band decided to go towards a less eclectic sound and chose to concentrate exclusively on the guitars and give more vocals, possibly to sound a little more accessible. The walls of distortion we heard on the debut are here much less, popping out only in the end of the album, and as a result the music is really mellow, soft, and with slow rhythms, without any build up. The samples are still here, but, except for the Iggy Pop discussion in the intro of the album, they just don't do anything for me. Because of the monotone tone this LP has, I am challenged to call this Post-Rock, while Slowcore sounds more fit to it, because of its minimalism.

This, however, is not a complete disaster of an album: some of these slow moments are good, like "Year 2000 Non Compliant Cardia", the longer "May Nothing But Happiness Come Through Your Door". The last three songs (without counting the outro) are the only ones with a distinct climax, and it might sound relieving for some, but to me, they don't feel as powerful as they use to be with the debut.

"Come On Die Young", despite not being a disaster, is a pretty disappointing album. This album is also the first sign of the Mogwai syndrome: every album they'll make from there on will be compared to "Young Team" and snobbed because it doesn't go near it. It is still a surprise to me though that this band is possibly one of the most popular Post-Rock bands.

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