mclusky released their first album in 20 years, the world is still here and so are we, last week. they’re sharing another video today which is directed by remy lamont, and that’s for the track ‘autofocus on the prime directive’, which is one of the songs from that album. there are also a lot of live dates coming up which you can look at below if you like.
falco offers; “autofocus on the prime directive is a series of patently untrue statements set to music by a man who can barely dress himself. the title is not a reference to star trek in any way but if it was I hope you’d understand.”
mclusky was one of those bands which built a cult following without ever really breaking through in the period they were active, in the period which spanned from 1996-2005. None of the greats are ever appreciated in their time, of course. Their albums would fetch premium prices second-hand, in the years after they called it a day, and my local Oxfam had prohibitively-priced copies of a couple of them for a while, which got progressively more tired and shelf-worn. With Future of the Left, Andrew Falkous found a wider audience while still doing much of the same, but as loved as they became, there was always a sense among fans that ‘they’re bloody brilliant… but they’re not mclusky’.
Of course, nostalgia has a large part to play here, and it’s almost inevitable that practically no second or subsequent band, however popular or successful, will experience the same affection as their forebears, unless, perhaps, they’re The Foo Fighters, in which case that affection is misplaced anyway.
mclusky flirted with occasional comebacks, while Falkous would release solo work as Christian Fitness. But, somewhat unexpectedly, the Wikipedia note on Mcluskyism (2006) that ‘This compilation is, without doubt, the final chapter in Mclusky’s nine-year saga, as Falkous informs in the Mcluskyism liner notes, “that’s it, then. No farewell tour… no premature deaths (at time of writing), no live DVDs…”’ First, there was the EP unpopular parts of a pig in 2023, and now, here we have it: their first full-length album in a full two decades. What has happened? I really don’t know, but seemingly from nowhere, a stack of bands from the Jesus Lizard to Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, have re-emerged with their first new albums in twenty years or more, and they’ve not been some second-rate, tepid late- (or even post-) career cash-ins, but up there with the best of their work.
‘Is it any good?’ people will be asking. ‘Is it as good as the old stuff?’ Anyone who has heard lead single, ‘way of the exploding dickhead’ will probably already be thinking that the answer to both of these questions is in the affirmative, and they would be right. the world is still here and so are we is indeed up there. As they put it, ‘it was important not to cos-play the past but also not to flubbity-flub over everything like a gang of big stupid flubs.’ Yeah,. There’s definitely no flubbing, or flab here. This is lean and full-on, and sheer quality.
It’s ‘unpopular parts of a pig’ which launches the album in a scratchy blast of cutty treble, a skewe(re)d tumult of stop / start angular punk which is frantic and irreverent, compressing elements of Nirvana and Shellac and Butthole Surfers, Dead Kennedys, and the Jesus Lizard into a manic two minutes and twenty-one seconds.
It was often the case, especially in the 70s, 80s, and 90s – before streaming, essentially, but while record company exploitation and the industry gravy train was racing at a seemingly unstoppable pace – that the singles, which would lure you in to buy an album, were the only decent songs on it, and you’d feel pretty bummed and short-changed at having forked out £7.50 for an LP or cassette – unless if had been one of your bonus purchases through Britannia Music – when you might as well have just paid 99p for the 7” and not bothered with the album. This may still be the case in some instances, now that the album format is supposedly dead in the world of the mainstream, where people only stream the songs they know already as part of the playlist they’ll loop for weeks, but beyond the mainstream, it feels like the album is stronger than ever, and acts are committed to making albums which are 100% quality from beginning to end. This certainly rings true for the world is still here and so are we.
Of the album’s thirteen songs, only three are over three minutes in duration, and it feels like there’ve compressed and distilled everything to achieve peak intensity. The bass is absolutely immense, a thunderous boom that dominates the sound, leaving room for Falkous’ guitar to wander and explore sinewy tripwire picked lead parts and discordant textures.
‘people person’ also released as a single, lands with a swagger and showcases a gutsy bass-led groove, while also highlighting the sarcastic, ironical humour and misanthropy that’s integral to both mclusky and FOTL: bursting with pithy one-liners and sharp commentary, it’s everything that makes them so loved and so bloody great. Elsewhere, the more overtly mathy ‘not all the steeplejacks’ channels the spirit of Shellac rather nicely.
the world is still here and so are we is gritty, unpretty, full-throttle, and fiery. It’s a racket. And yes, it’s fucking mint.
During their comparatively brief career, which spanned the years 1999 to 2004, Mclusky released three albums and achieved a cult following, and that was kind of that, with Andrew Falkous going on to form Future of the Left who would achieve and similar cult status. But the thing about cult bands is that their reputation has a habit of developing posthumously, and while the musical differences between FOTL and Mclusky are, in real terms, quite scant – shouty, noisy, post-hardcore – the nostalgia for Mclusky – often harboured by those who never got to see them the first time around – has become pretty fervent over the years.
A large part of the appeal of both Mclusky and Future of the Left is their not giving a fuck for convention, and this tour is a perfect case in point, as they commemorate the twentieth anniversary of their second album. There’s not only no anniversary reissue, but it’s long deleted and hard to come by second hand an expensive when it does turn up. This, and the reformed lineup features neither of the two bassists who played with the band the first time around, so it’s two-thirds of Mclusky playing most of the second album. Meh, these are just details, it’s been sold out for weeks now and the buzz beforehand is palpable.
Helping to build that buzz are Beige palace, who are an ideal choice of support, with their skewed, angular tunes and offbeat banter. That synth / organ bass grinds hard, seriously, and they may play some bum notes but no-one notices, or much less cares. The quirky trio are a strong advert for the Leeds DIY scene. In fact, having emerged from the community that evolved around CHUNK and the Brudenell itself, it’s a source of pride that they’ve scored slots like this and with Shellac a couple of years ago, because theirs is THE sound of Leeds, and they’re very much equal to the high-profile bands they’ve supported. Doing your own thing and not trying to be cool counts for a lot.
Beige Palace
It’s certainly served Falkous and co well over the course of an enviable career, and has drawn a sellout crowd tonight. While commemorating the anniversary of Mclusky Do Dallas, this isn’t one of those sets where they play the album through from beginning to end, and instead they open with ‘Fuck this Band’. It makes for a fitting start to a set where they openly complain about some of the songs being shit, and how they don’t enjoy playing several others. But they play them all with guts and gusto, although ‘Light Sabre Cocksucking Blues’ is tossed off as the second song, as if they’re keen to get it out of the way and get on with the rest of the show. Any other band would have saved it for the encore, Mclusky don’t piss about with an encore either, instead sweltering their way through an hour and a quarter of back-to-back guitar-driven tunage. It’s testament to the strength of their other material that everything subsequent doesn’t feel like an anticlimax.
Mclusky
Damien Sayell is an immense presence who bounces and lumbers relentlessly: he’s big and burly and he doesn’t just play notes or chords, he tears chunks of bass noise from the wood with his fists, like a bear in a frenzy. Falkous squares up to the mic and spits lyrics at a hundred miles an hour while sweat spurts from every pore in his face, the sinews in his neck standing out like ropes, and they never let up for more than a minute between songs, keeping the banter and tuning to a minimum: many of the calls from the crowd are shut down pretty succinctly, and they seem keen not to disrupt the flow.
Mclusky
That flow is shown the appreciation is deserves with some hefty moshing in the middle that extends a fair way back into the room.
And then, wrapping up a twenty-song set that features all bar one song from Do Dallas, they sign off with a raging rendition of ‘To Hell with Good Intentions’, they’re gone. Still punk, still not giving a fuck, Mclusky still know how to kick ass.
Hex Records (USA) / Bigout Records (Europe) – 23rd October 2020
Christopher Nosnibor
For what is essentially a side-project for some of its members, USA Nails have sustained a remarkable output since their inception in 2014, with Character Stop being their fifth full-length release.
It is less full-on, less manic, and less of a messy blur than the bulk of their previous works, but the energy is still very much present, manifesting in a sound that’s more defined, more sharply focused. Which means, in short, it’s more like being attacked with a saw than a hammer. That said, there’s no shortage of blistering punk assaults: ‘I Am Posable’ is a furious flurry of slurry, and hits the spot hard.
We’ve already been given a flavour of the album with the short sharp shocks of ‘I Don’t Own Anything and the opening track ‘Revolution Worker’ both of which combine the growling bass rumble of Shellac with skewed guitars and a motoric beat, and consequently comes on like an early Fall outtake being covered by Tar, and it’s fair to say they’re wholly representative of the album as a whole. Well, don’t you just hate it when you buy an album because of a great single only to find the rest of the album is absolutely nothing like it, and it’s crap to boot? Maybe it happens less now in the digital age, but I used to find that a lot back in the 80s and 90s. Anyway, what this means is that if the prefatory releases appealed, then you’ll be happy to get lots more of the same, while conversely, if the singles didn’t do it for you, then you’re really going to find this a chore.
Recorded in just four days at Bear Bites Horse in London with producer Wayne Adams, Character Stop is urgent, immediate, and raw, and the songs are all brief and more angular than a great-stellated dodecahedron. And yet for that, it’s not math-rock, nor does it really belong to any specific genre, unless jolting, jarring, slightly discordant shit is a recognised genre now.
The album’s longest track, clocking in at four and a quarter minutes, ‘How Was Your Weekend?’ slows the pace and darkens the tone, with a stark, post-punk feel, a tone vocal paired with a thumping metronomic beat at tripwire tense guitars, and likewise the stark, jittery ‘Preference for Cold’. The bass shudders as it runs hither and thither, while the guitars crash in splintering shards. Elsewhere, if ‘No Pleasure’ filters The Stooges through Black Flag and slips its way through at a hundred miles an hour in a torrent of sweat and angst, it’s still got a vaguely post-punk tint to compliment its hardcore hue, and ‘Temporary Home’ is all about the motoric thud. It’s also got something that sounds like a chorus and a bit of melody, although it’s soon swallowed up in a scream of nail-scraping feedback and racketous riffage.
You wouldn’t exactly call Character Stop a minimalist work, but it is often stark, almost contemplative, going beyond all-out thunderous noise to explore dynamics and contrast. In short, it’s a cracking album.
London based noise/punk band USA Nails have launched the 2nd single from their upcoming album ‘Character Stop’ which is set for release on 23rd October through Hex Records (USA) and Bigout Records (Europe). You can watch the video for short and sharp single ‘I Don’t Own Anything’ which clocks in at just 1 min 23 seconds.
USA Nails feature current and ex-members of Sly & The Family Drone, Blacklisters, Kong, Oceansize, Silent Front, Death Pedals, Future of the Left and Dead Arms.
Guitarist Gareth Thomas comments,
‘At the risk of sounding like a dick; this song is about millennials and zoomers. Generations who have been shafted by their parents, who can’t afford anything, who live on zero hours contracts, and who are currently experiencing a mental health epidemic. They are blamed for their own misfortune because they like to eat avocados sometimes. It’s also got a beat that’ll get your toe tapping.’
And with all music being streamed via Spotify and YouTube, no-one even own their own music collection any more. Which also massively sucks.
Aural Aggravation 