I got into Mogwai kinda late, but I've been making up for lost time. A couple of years after I started listening to them they released Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will and a year later I picked up a cheap cd copy in Fopp in London. It has, by far, one of my favourite album titles of all time.
I'd been enjoying what Mogwai I'd heard up to that point (Hawk is Howling, Young Team, Come On Die Young, in that order) but Hardcore struck me the most and I still consider it one of my favourite Mogwai albums. I think it's more urgent in its sound; the songs don't mess around and are a perfect mixture of punishing and listenable. The band are constantly evolving and this album is just the Mogwai I want to hear; I struggled with Rave Tapes as it drifted a bit further away from the sound here. On the other hand, my subsequent Mogwai purchase was the soundtrack to Les Revenants which has more in common with Hardcore.
White Noise is a huge opener and Rano Pano and San Pedro are great songs. There are moments of rest too in the form of Letters to the Metro and How to be a Warewolf. The number of songs with vocals is pretty much perfect and the ones on George Square Thatcher Death Party are distorted to perfection. Too Raging to Cheers and You're Lionel Richie are a perfect pair at the end and make an incredible D-side.
I was in Brighton for work a couple of times last summer and spent one lunchtime in Resident Records, a shop I hadn't been in for a few years. I'm pretty sure it's bigger than the last time I was in there, but it would have been a while ago. Anyway, the selection was incredible so I spent a lot of money. It was a hard choice what to buy and what to leave behind - there were a lot of records on my "I really should pick that up one day" list. This copy of Hardcore was only £14, which is a relative bargain these days. It's not a hard record to come across at all, but I rarely see it in the shops I regularly visit and I can imagine it being nearer £20 most of the time. I'm still working on my Mogwai vinyl collection - and will be for a good while I think - but I'm pleased to have this one now. It's a great album
Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, picture sleeves
Tracks: 10
Cost: £14 new
Bought: Resident Records, Brighton
When: 13/07/16
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code
