Fans and detractors alike would probably agree that a defining characteristic of Mogwai's last few records has been the symbolic spinning of wheels. It is disappointing, then, that the band would deem the best course of action is to frame the spinning wheels as a deliberate move to concretize a style and not the lack of inspiration everyone knows it to be. Rave Tapes was promoted as having an abundance of electronic instrumentation, but that is a disingenuous move, both because it is neither a new element nor is it nearly as prominent as it is suggested. Rather, it is the only distinguishing feature of a release interred in its own indifference.
What I didn't need to hear from Mogwai was them trudging through another middling instrumental workout as if the exhaustion of syncing these analog synthesizers to the BPM they wanted drained whatever life force was left for writing melodies. No one should be championed for landing on beat a full four minutes or accomplishing rudimentary layering. "Simon Ferocious" is the most pragmatically energetic of the songs on Rave Tapes, and even then the guitar soloing in the last minutes seems forced. "Remurdered" pulls the same kind of reluctant synth arpeggio exercise to slightly improved results, with a low-pitched analog saw wave carrying the momentum that Mogwai forgot was important on much of the later songs. "Repelish" plays the spoken word trope card to save a dying melody, while "Deesh" clings to anthemic buildups that cannot find a point. The rest do some variation of the same slow burn post-rock thing that has been in vogue and simultaneously kind of played out ever since it existed. "Blues Hour" and "The Lord Is Out Of Control" plug some sheepish vocals in between choruses for a change, standing out only among such odd bland company.
It is a credit to Mogwai's innovation that in their prime and even occasionally past it they have been able to take the typically sedative processes of guitar-driven post-rock to interesting places, and it is probably not a surprise that such a perfect storm of inspiration as seen onYoung Team is a rarer thing than they would like it to be. Still, the shifting averages of quality material on albums like Rave Tapes are doing a shame to the good work they have contributed in the past. Mogwai cannot be running to the studio to record every time they purchase a Juno; they owe it to themselves and their reputation to simply try harder than this.
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