Happy Songs for Happy People Mogwai

Happy Songs for Happy People takes the focus and restraint of Rock Action to greater lengths, but it never feels like a rehash of their previous work. The palette of sounds the band uses – which includes rolling guitars and pianos, swelling strings, persuasive but un-showy drumming, and occasional forays into distortion and electronics – is a relatively small one, but the band uses it wisely on tracks as diverse as the lovely, understated “Kids Will Be Skeletons” (arguably the “happiest” song on the album) and the gloriously dense finale, “Stop Coming to My House,” which piles layers and layers of distorted drums, guitars, and synths atop each other. Mogwai also employs its usual quietly beautiful/explosively noisy dynamic formula expertly, particularly on the gorgeous “Killing All the Flies,” which feels much longer (in a good way) than four and a half minutes.

Old-school Mogwai fans disappointed by the relative brevity of most of Happy Songs for Happy People’s songs should be pleased by “Ratts of the Capital,” which, over the course of eight minutes, nearly reaches the epic proportions of the Young Team/Come on Die Young era. Once again, though, it’s not merely a return to their old sound: The track begins with darkly chiming guitars and xylophones and then builds to a crushing climax, but even its heaviest moments are leavened with beauty, and its nearly symmetrical rise and fall make it fit perfectly with the rest of the album. Fortunately, though, the new techniques Mogwai explores on this album are just as satisfying, if not more so, than the band’s familiar ones: “Golden Porsche“‘s richly mellow bass and pianos sound more akin to Americana than post-rock, while “I Know You Are But What Am I?”’s shuffling, piston-like rhythm and twinkling synths are both brooding and childlike.

A strangely dreamy, reverent feel winds through the album, surfacing on the Spiritualized-esque “Boring Machines Disturbs Sleep” and “Moses? I Amn’t,” which has a buzzing synth bass so deep it makes your brain vibrate. With Happy Songs for Happy People, Mogwai gets to have it both ways – it’s ironic and sincere, concise and expansive, challenging and accessible, and it’s one of the band’s best albums, no two ways about it.

Heather Phares, AllMusic