"… the lovely melody that emerges halfway through Kids Will Be Skeletons is New Order via the Cure's Disentegration, while Stop Coming To My House recalls My Bloody Valentine. Occasionally muffled vocals whisper through the noise; if they know the secrets of this majestic music, they're not telling."
"It's immediately clear that the word "happy" in the title would be better replaced by "blissful", for the overwhelming vibe of this record is chilled. The songs exist largely as looped refrains which progress by collecting extra layers of instrumentation rather than by exploring interesting musical paths. Sticking together all manner of noises, from guitar and piano through vocals digested by a vocoder and regurgitated, owl-like, as though mouse droppings, the band serenely create the kind of music that's best heard on a CD player late at night with the lights off."
"While bright dawn bursts of electronica that gradually build to soaring climaxes of sheer emotional release only prove how empty words can seem in comparison."
"In all it's an album that sees Mogwai doing all of what they've done well over the years - endorphin-guitars, strange yet fascinating avant-garde percussion, and spiralling, complex song-structures. Perhaps, with their greater experience, they're taking on a greater range, and maybe, just maybe, they're a bit cheerier than before. Regardless, Mogwai are an institution, and unlike the Royal Family or the Electoral College, don't need to be put up against the wall."
"When the world comes to whatever ignominious end we choose, Happy Songs for Happy People will be playing somewhere. It'll be the instrumental soundtrack to everyone's collective thoughts of anger, resentment, acceptance, and then, ultimately-- after everyone's had time to reflect and make peace with whatever the hell it is they're trying to reconcile at that particular moment-- it'll also be the soundtrack to great big letdown of, y'know, the world ending."
"This is Mogwai distilled to their essence, and the result is an album of huge power, emotional depth and feeling, with vocals submerged under a claustrophobic blanket of effects and guitars battling with viola, cello, violin and piano. It's just as Eno as it is S***t, and all the greater for that."
Dot Music
Article comments
1 - Iguana
You used my CoolNoise site in your review extracts - thanks. It seems I do have some readers after all!