Review Summary: Recycling trivialities.
Mogwai’s journey from roaring grandeur to brooding electronic rock may not have pleased everybody, but their moments of beauty and catharsis remained, however sporadic.
Music Industry 3 Fitness Industry 1, a split between new material and remixes of tracks from
Rave Tapes, offers little of either, leaving it a bland, albeit competent, offering. It’s Mogwai’s gasping canary, an indication of an increasingly pedestrian career, and nothing more.
Mogwai’s half of the split finds some redemption in ‘History Day’, a delightfully self-aware track that applies some restraint to the
Rave Tapes formula. The electronics are applied sparingly, allowing the gentle guitar-driven opening to develop an ethereal, welcoming atmosphere. Refreshingly, it never adopts a false urgency, but instead roams, taking the time to develop its musical ideas before coalescing into a wash of guitar and synthesis at the climax. It may lack the soaring release of their youth, but at least it shows charisma. ‘HMS Shaun William Ryder’, however, is predictable: it attempts to capture an untamed savagery, but sabotages itself by cutting to a needless quiet bridge that signals the coming climax. The result is limp, and the subsequent fade to silence just feels insulting. It’s Mogwai playing to formula, detaching from their personality and warmth to favour a methodical, sluggish approach.
Perhaps attacking the EP for being formulaic is petty. After all, the opening track forgoes their typical style, breaking into a hammering alt-rock mess complete with frail vocals and banal lyricism. The core couplet, ‘It’s undone and uncertain / An apology accepted’, echoes with a profound dispassion that drains the track of any staying power it might otherwise have. The more conventional arrangement simply lacks the fire it needs. The remixes also mark departures from Mogwai’s standard, offering reinterpretations that fail to exceed their source material. Blanck Mass’ remix, ‘Re-Remurdered’, buries the original track under a growling beat, accelerating it to an apocalyptic grind. The takes on ‘No Medicine For Regret’ and ‘The Lord Is Out Of Control’ - by Pye Corner Audio and Nils Frahm, respectively - are stronger. The former peels away most of the guitar, leaving a somewhat misplaced electronic beat that, while serviceable, does little to evoke the character of its source. It’s Frahm’s attempt that stands strongest, introducing a hybridised piano that provides effective contrast to the intermittent squalls of wrenching distortion. Nonetheless, these remixes exist solely as curiosities for fans: they were never meant to be regarded on their own merits, and it shows.
That’s not to say the EP is bad. It’s superfluous by design, a collection of
Rave Tapes misfits with competent instrumentation and solid production values. However, it remains dull; although buoyed by some brighter moments, it lacks the musical interest or emotional strength to justify a repeated listen. Ultimately,
Music Industry 3 Fitness Industry 1 is a shadow cast by the dim light of its predecessor. That’s not enough.
