Mogwai : The Bad Fire

Scottish post-rock OGs Mogwai have been blowing minds and ear drums for closing in on 30 years. They’ve expanded their monolithic guitar-heavy sound over the years to include synthesizers, electronics, and have even gotten into film scoring. And on a personal note, I saw Mogwai back in 2004 open for The Curiosa Festival and can say they were the loudest band I’d ever heard. They still hold that record. I have the hearing loss to prove it.

Mogwai have recently released their 11th studio album titled The Bad Fire. The band continues to open their sound up into less harsh territory, even peppering their mostly instrumental sound with vocal harmonies to add a dream-like quality.

The Bad Fire opens with “God Gets You Back”, one of a handful of songs that deals with some hard times the band has dealt with since the release of their last record, 2021s As The Love Continues. “God Gets You Back” in-particular was written about band member Barry Burns’ daughter who was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. She is on the road to recovery now, but you can hear the heaviness in the track. “Hi Chaos” has a quiet menacing quality to it, building from clean guitar lines into a cacophony of noise. If someone asked you what’s the typical vibe of a Mogwai song you could play “Hi Chaos” and say simply “This.”

While the music is always serious, song titles tend to show the band’s sense of humor. As in tracks like the almost pop-hooky “Fanzine Made Of Flesh”, complete with vocoder vocals. Or the mouthful “If You Think This World Is Bad, You Should See Some Of The Others” with its epic build from quiet resolve to its fuzz box violence of a conclusion. And despite the cheeky title “Pale Vegan Hip Pain”, the track wavers in epic keys and dour moods.

Mogwai have stayed a solid, thoughtful, and ever-evolving band since their debut in 1997. Their sound stays mysterious and serious, and while the band takes what they do serious they have always had a solid sense of humor about it all. The Bad Fire(Scottish term for “hell”) is another nearly hour of serious music business. But even when its heavy it never weighs you down. Just don’t forget the earplugs.