MOGWAI

By now the group has returned to their quiet Scottish countryside homes, no doubt suffering some hearing loss after this most recent US tour. Tuesday night's stop was their second to last on this brief tour, the band played at the classical-style balcony-equipped Somerville Theatre in Boston to a nearly sold-out crowd. The performance began as most of their music does: calm, quiet, melodic and pretty. Selections included music off their recent EP and LP and their forthcoming "Rock: Action" album, due for imminent release. But be warned, since their last visit the group has gained weight, lost hair and collected distortion pedals along the way. Yes, they're fucking angry this time with a wall of sound lounder than anything I've heard in years. Exercising their volume muscles half way through the show every song began to end on a very loud note, with humming feedback dragging on while the members stood in front of amplifiers just to get -that- much more umph. But wait, just when you thought it was loud enough, the keyboardist emerges towards the front of the stage, guitar in hand, he clicks it on slams a floor pedal and BOOM! The noise suddenly becomes even more multi-dimensional. Much like many of these songs, the show itself ended with a long barrage of distortion stretching at least twenty minutes. Now, while many fans in attendance there were entirely blown away by the experience, I found it rather excessive. People were leaving the show with only one thing on their mind "that was loud!" Indeed it was, but it sort of masked the musical portion of the show. Nobody at this point could remember the keyboardist's flute-playing bits or delicate piano playing, unfamiliar melodies of a forthcoming album or a beautiful cellist that sat on stage right adding a charming color nearly half the night. It was indeed Rock Action - a bunch of teenagers nodding and agreeing with their buddies about how much that show "kicked ass." Are Mogwai to become the Motley Crue of this decade?