Taking its cues from the Velvets-Sonic Youth-Yo La Tengo chain of feedback-drenched underground rock, Mogwai has stripped this template of everything but its most ambient, abstract implications. In Mogwai songs, vocals are rare and usually amount to a low mumble. Guitar arpeggios find joy in repetition, intersecting in hypnotic combinations that make this a kind of mood music for people with unpredictable mood swings – a bi-polar Sigur Ros.
| MOGWAI with And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and DJ Klassen 10pm Monday, September 15 6pm Tuesday, September 16 Emo’s 603 Red River, Austin (512) 477-3667 |
Even laudable albums like Rock Action and the new Happy Songs For Happy People can’t convey the emotional power of this band on stage, where its extreme dynamic buildups and gradual shifts from lush to caterwauling can make for joyous catharsis. The soft/loud effect has been a staple of rock since the advent of the distortion pedal, but few have mined such territory with the fearless commitment of this Glasgow quintet.
Mogwai will be in Austin for a unique two-night stand at Emo’s with And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Mogwai will headline the Monday, September 15 show, while the two bands will reverse roles the following night for an early show beginning at 6 p.m. •
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2003.