Search - Mogwai :: The Hawk Is Howling

A Beautifully Soft Hard Rock Album

N. Hall | 12/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While there are no drastic departures from the melodic, brooding, hopeful sound of previous Mogwai works, there are a few minor changes that add up. First of all, The Hawk is Howling contains no vocal elements at all. Also missing are most of the electronic dubbing and sampling of previous works, yielding some of their most organic tracks to date. Perhaps most importantly, this album seems much more straightforward than their other offerings, with an emphasis on power rather than intricacy. There's plenty of somber, crystalline structure here, but there's also a newfound willingness to write tunes you can hum or stomp along to. Each track, excepting perhaps "Batcat," has an immediately apparent melody that could be played by one or two people on keyboards without losing too much vitality, and most tracks feature heavy vamping. The resulting tunes are simple and memorable. Everything is a little more aggressive and less complex than on previous Mogwai efforts, without losing the depth and creativity they're known for. This is elegant work.



While the overall mood is fairly consistent, there's quite a lot of stylistic variety on The Hawk is Howling. The strangely named opener "I'm Jim Morrison I'm Dead," with it's shimmering piano line and powerful organs, sounds like what might happen if Mr. Spock wrote a Klingon opera. On the other hand, "The Sun Smells Too Loud" is upbeat, even danceable, conveying a sense of enjoyment with the emotive force most artists in this genre sadly reserve for melancholy. "Scotland's Shame" is a straightforward, driving anthem that will immediately setup housekeeping in your hippocampus. "Danphe and the Brain" and "Thank You Space Expert" are catchy numbers that sound like somebody bouncing wordless poems off the sky. "The Precipice" is the thing you jump off of at the end, wondering if you can fly, and if anyone else can either.



One thing that sets Mogwai apart from most of their post-rock brethren/followers is that their hard rock roots are deep and healthy. With the barely-bridled malice of tracks like "Batcat" and "I Love You, I'm Going to Blow Up Your School," Mogwai not only invite the space invasion, but threaten to beat it back as well. At once meditative and gripping, The Hawk is Howling has as much in common with Tool's Lateralus as with the latest from Explosions In The Sky or GY!BE. Imagine your favorite hard rock band had a spiritual epiphany and spent a few years in a secluded monastery; Mogwai is what they'd sound like when they came back down the mountainside and found you worshiping a golden calf.



Another thing that sets Mogwai apart is their willingness to just keep writing beautiful songs, without trying too hard to reinvent themselves at the behest of critics. I encourage you to ignore all the cliched buzzwords of a typical music review, and focus on what these artists focus on: the craftsmanship, imagination, and enjoyability of the music. There's nothing revolutionary here, but there's an awful lot to like, maybe even love. It's always a challenge to predict what somebody else will find beautiful, but The Hawk is Howling is a good introduction to Mogwai, and, if you appreciate this genre at all, a good bet to earn a prominent place in your music player of choice."

GREAT Addiction to your Mogwai collection !

Jerry Wong | San Francisco, California United States | 12/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Or start to build your Mogwai collection from here.

Great Album !!

Still keeping this quality !

"

Return to form

Greg Kinne | midwest | 07/13/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For Mogwai's 11th album, "The Hawk is Howling" they reunited with producer Andy Miller (producer of Young Team) and created a stunning work. Mogwai have crafted an album of mournful beauty with songs that ebb then slowly gain momentum. Similar to Sigur Ros' () album in mood, this album contains songs of angst and resolution but is entirely instrumental.



The funereal atmosphere lets up for a moment on most of these tracks and reveals different effects bubbling underneath the surface. Album opener, "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead" reveals little about the singer but sets the somber tone for the rest of the album. "Batcat" is next and is noisy and thrashy and collides next to "Daphne & The Brain," an other worldly soundscape. "Local Authority" paints a bleak picture and might be perfect to listen to after a wake.



The mood of the album starts to lighten with "The Sun Smells Too Loud" which is a summery piece of guitar rock and it seems nice to get away from whatever grim place Mogwai is inhabiting. "Kings Meadow" is pastoral, and reminds me of the melody of the song "Static Waves" by Pacific UV, if the ladies in Amiina fronted them.



Things don't stay idyllic long on this album as the peace is shattered by the eerie "I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School;" a brutish piece ended by a noisy guitar squall. As the album comes to a close, it seems to run through a lot of emotions with the dirge like "Scotland's Shame" and the pensive "Thank You Space Expert." "The Precipice" closes the album and lingers after the expelling of the demons that once consumed it."