Currently Listening

A glog about the ups and downs of the "album shuffle" function.
Mclusky - Mclusky Do Dallas The island of Wales is mostly noted for unbearable accents, ugly people, Tom Jones, and - in general - being a blight on humanity, which are all, surprisingly enough, the aspects that now-defunct Welsh punk band Mclusky encompassed. Fortunately for Mclusky, those are seemingly the things that they set out to accomplish. Seemingly getting off on being as abrasive as possible, Mclusky are obnoxious, loud and discordant, and their opus, Mclusky Do Dallas, is a brilliant record full of big noisy drugged-out guitar haze, and from front to back, sounds and feels identical to 4:30 AM on a cheap beer bender when you’ve lost control of mental and physical faculties, you’re moments from throwing up and your brain is running at a thousand miles per hour. Cut from the same cloth as NoMeansNo and Black Flag, Mclusky are one of the great punk rock antagonists, raging with pissed-off humor and blaring instrumentals. The manic opener, “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues” (one of the great punk tunes of the 00’s) sets the perfect tone for the record, and Mclusky does an excellent job of carrying it out through the following 30 minutes. “Fuck This Band” is a bit of genius as well, taking probably the most lyrically vitriolic song on the record and turning it into a lounge-y, folk-styled hum-along, even finding a way to subvert the fans looking for more noise and anger. Now fronting Future of the Left, frontman Andy Falkous is one of the absolute great frontmen in music. He honed his wavering vocal delivery, which moves between confidence and anxiety-ridden warble sometimes in just moments, on Do Dallas. “No New Wave No Fun” and “What We’ve Learned” are straightforward punk churners, and “The World Loves Us and is Our Bitch” is indicative of the kind of self-important, cock-grabbing grime that Mclusky are known for writing. Surprise indie songs like “Alan is a Cowboy Killer” are sprinkled throughout as well, sounding just as much like Revolution Summer-era Dischord records as Falkous’ sneering yelp allows them to. Mclusky Do Dallas is a touchstone in hyper-intelligent, snarky punk rock for all time, packed with in-jokes, and on the lowest level, just sounds like fucking fun, which the album consistently is.

Mclusky - Mclusky Do Dallas

The island of Wales is mostly noted for unbearable accents, ugly people, Tom Jones, and - in general - being a blight on humanity, which are all, surprisingly enough, the aspects that now-defunct Welsh punk band Mclusky encompassed. Fortunately for Mclusky, those are seemingly the things that they set out to accomplish. Seemingly getting off on being as abrasive as possible, Mclusky are obnoxious, loud and discordant, and their opus, Mclusky Do Dallas, is a brilliant record full of big noisy drugged-out guitar haze, and from front to back, sounds and feels identical to 4:30 AM on a cheap beer bender when you’ve lost control of mental and physical faculties, you’re moments from throwing up and your brain is running at a thousand miles per hour. Cut from the same cloth as NoMeansNo and Black Flag, Mclusky are one of the great punk rock antagonists, raging with pissed-off humor and blaring instrumentals. The manic opener, “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues” (one of the great punk tunes of the 00’s) sets the perfect tone for the record, and Mclusky does an excellent job of carrying it out through the following 30 minutes. “Fuck This Band” is a bit of genius as well, taking probably the most lyrically vitriolic song on the record and turning it into a lounge-y, folk-styled hum-along, even finding a way to subvert the fans looking for more noise and anger.

Now fronting Future of the Left, frontman Andy Falkous is one of the absolute great frontmen in music. He honed his wavering vocal delivery, which moves between confidence and anxiety-ridden warble sometimes in just moments, on Do Dallas. “No New Wave No Fun” and “What We’ve Learned” are straightforward punk churners, and “The World Loves Us and is Our Bitch” is indicative of the kind of self-important, cock-grabbing grime that Mclusky are known for writing. Surprise indie songs like “Alan is a Cowboy Killer” are sprinkled throughout as well, sounding just as much like Revolution Summer-era Dischord records as Falkous’ sneering yelp allows them to. Mclusky Do Dallas is a touchstone in hyper-intelligent, snarky punk rock for all time, packed with in-jokes, and on the lowest level, just sounds like fucking fun, which the album consistently is.

  1. frollospeaks reblogged this from currentlylistening and added:
    Wales is not an island.
  2. currentlylistening posted this