The Scottish post rock company Mogwai had been compared to peers like Tortoise and Godspeed You Black Emperor! always the most rocking, with their rock-hard, savage, and distorted guitars dominated sonic bursts. A sound that immediately blossomed on the successful debut album Mogwai Young Team (1997). The group from Glasgow themselves was not satisfied with it, guitarist Stuart Braithwaite writes
… in the booklet of the re-release of Come On Die Young (1999), the follow-up with which they were much more happy. This time the quintet managed to do everything right that had gone wrong with the debut. Ironically, Come On Die Young was initially less well received, but slowly grew into a post-rock classic. Despite the rough title, Mogwai often sounds subdued, with drawn-out instrumentals full of slow guitar arpeggios, atonal chords and dragging drums. Eruptions take a long time to arrive or do not occur. It makes Come On Die Young, reissued with an extra CD full of outtakes and live material, into a growth record that reveals more beauty with every turn. (MR)more
