Mogwai

“Mr. Beast” (Matador Records)

Sounds like: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros

REVIEW: 3.5 / 5

In short: The new Mogwai album is like a book on tape . on acid.

Ingredients for a good Mogwai stew: 2 cups of melodic piano, 4 cups of brooding guitar (chunky and smooth), 3 cups of flawless drumming, a pinch of spoken word, 2 tablespoons of fuzzy electronic drum machines, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 3 tablespoons of feedback.

Combine ingredients and stir slowly for best mix. Then simmer for an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Serve hot for best results.

In the past, these have been the ingredients that drive good Mogwai albums. The new Mogwai, “Mr. Beast,” has all of these ingredients, but is just a little undercooked. It lacks the charm of Aunt Ida’s famous chili. Some people may say this isn’t a problem, and Mogwai doesn’t need to have Charlton Heston-sized epics. As a long-time Mogwai fan and card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association, I would have to disagree. On the band’s first album, “Young Team,” the songs were captivating, and made listeners invest themselves in them, ultimately being more satisfied than they could’ve imagined. “Mr. Beast” doesn’t really have the build up that “Young Team” had.

Although “Mr. Beast” has some good songs, the majority of the album seems rushed. Mogwai didn’t warm up or stretch before it ran. It just got up and started sprinting. This just doesn’t work when the band’s songs are typically in the double digits in terms of length. And with a belly full of stew, you need some time to digest before you go running.

– Nick Farris