Last year mclusky completed a triumphant comeback by releasing their first studio album in more than 20 years, a record which surpassed the expectations of the many fans, both new and old, that had been clamouring for fresh material after a string of packed out live shows and a single tantalising EP put out a couple of years previously. Thankfully they’ve not kept us waiting quite so long this time around, recently unveiling a new mini-album, i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley, which gets its vinyl release today.
Composed of six tracks (four brand new plus a couple that featured on the unpopular parts of a pig EP) it’s a deeply satisfying intermezzo for fans hungry for more while we await news of a new album.
The mini-album is kicked off by the grinding bass and punchy drums of ‘i know computer’, which prods beneath the surface of our uneasy relationship with artificial intelligence; we’re then flung into the slide guitar frenzy of ‘as a dad’ and its excellent refrain ‘the long crawl to irrelevance seems a little better every time you smile’, perhaps marking the closest a mclusky lyric has ever been to sentimental. ‘Spock Culture’ rips into cultural nostalgia with a classic undulating mclusky bassline and a trademark Falco putdown to someone’s father for whom ‘being dead would be a slight improvement’, while ‘hi, we’re on strike’ poses the question ‘how can i be late if i dispute your concept of a boss?’ against a churning, mechanical soundtrack which rumbles and burns in the breakdown. ‘fan learning difficulties’ takes a Stewart Lee-esque swipe at their own audience, while closer ‘that was my brain on elves’ strips everything back to the barest of bones, with Falco’s vocal musings taking centre stage over a simple three chord strum.
It’s an excellent snapshot of all the things we love about mclusky with each track just nudging the edges of what that encapsulates a little further in a different direction.
We caught up with frontman Andrew Falkous ahead of the band’s US tour to find out more about the release and what the band have in store for us next.
It’s been a little under a year since your ‘comeback’ album, which seemed to go down very well indeed – making quite a few end of year lists (including ours), garnering plenty of positive reviews and shifting enough copies to top the UK Independent Album Breakers Chart (whatever that is). How has it felt to have such a universally warm reception to the record?
I’m happy to have put the record out and to see the enjoyment it has given people at shows but I’m deeply unsatisfied with the reaction. Then again, I always am.
And now we have a new mini album to get our teeth into – how did this release come about? Are these tracks from the world is still here sessions that didn’t quite fit with the LP or are they brand new creations?
The intention was always to keep any finished stuff back for a future release but time constraints mean we don’t tend to finish songs which don’t really work out. ‘Spock culture’ and ‘hi! We’re on strike’ were intended for the album but didn’t fit. ‘As a dad’ and ‘I know computer’ are new songs. The final two songs are from the original release ep in 2023
Can you tell us a little something about each of the tracks please?
‘I know computer’ – obviously, I do not know computer. ‘Hallucinations’ is a great synonym for ‘mistake’ in AI-world. Love it.
‘As a dad’ – Damien wrote the main part of this. It is the essence of his young son shouting at him. Sub-text which becomes text – I am fucked but you are worth it.
‘Spock culture’ – the assemblage of cultural references around a person to use as a shield. Comfortable nostalgia reigning in order to distract from real problems (I’m as guilty of this as anyone).
‘Hi! We’re on strike’ – I mean, why wouldn’t you be? Capitalism has a real fixation on competition unless it’s on the shop floor. Outstanding.
‘Fan learning difficulties’ – suggestions from fans about songs or future directions we may take are always welcome. However, they’re also not.
‘That was my brain on elves’. Capitalism again (it’s quite the beast) along with a head injury and a little – only a little – empathy across the political divide. Not that there should be any such thing.
The new single, ‘as a dad’, includes a few insights into the experience of fatherhood. How have you found the interaction between being a dad and a musician? What challenges does it pose and has it impacted the way you’ve thought about making music?
It’s all brilliant and has improved my own enjoyment of music no end. Having another more enthusiastic tiny person around is a net positive in almost every situation unless I want to get spicy food and she insists on Mac n’ Cheese again.
‘that was my brain on elves’ is one of the most stripped back mclusky songs yet. Has it only ever existed in this form or was a more maximalist version tried out? What made the sparsely strummed version feel right?
It was written and recorded in about 15 minutes. No other versions have been tried – they’d be a waste of time. I have considered perhaps playing it live but I’m not sure if I could pull it off. Also, I can’t harmonize with myself owing to reality.
The videos for both singles from the mini album were directed by Remy Lamont, who also worked with you for the singles from the LP, which has given a consistent visual identity across several tracks. How much do you get involved with the planning and design of the videos, and how has it been working with Remy?
The videos are all Remy’s ideas. For the last one he asked if I’d be willing to be strapped to a plane, the answer to which was a straight ‘absolutely not’. He’s a lovely man. We don’t deserve him.
The mini-album release will be followed by an extensive US tour, are there any cities or venues that you’re particularly looking forward to playing? On previous tours have you found any difference between audiences in the States compared with the UK and elsewhere?
The usual places, Seattle and Chicago mainly (though San Francisco was great last night, quite feral although I did get a drink right in the face about 20 seconds in). Audiences are broadly similar – they do appear to be a little older on this run however (perhaps they are simply 2 years older than last time, as we are).
‘people person’ features on the recently released Peaky Blinders film – how did that come about? Have you watched the scene that it’s used in, and if so how does it correlate with the original intent for/meaning of the song when it was written?
They just emailed. Yeah, we went to the premiere which was a nice, slightly surreal time. The scene itself, no, it doesn’t correlate with the original intent of the song. I’m not sure I’d be able to articulate what that intent was, mind.
What’s coming up next for mclusky? Is there a UK tour on the horizon and when might we see a new album?
Hopefully there’ll be a new record early next year – it’s half recorded and we have a title (and maybe a cover) ready. The songs are pouring out at the moment. We’d like to tour all the time but sadly budgets and attention are a thing. Maybe early next year might be the time for some UK shows. Maybe not. Could be another 20 years. That’d be funny, certainly.
i sure am sick of this bowling alley is out now as a digital download, with vinyl editions released on 1st May – order now via Bandcamp
mclusky: Instagram / Bandcamp
Future of the Left (with occasional mclusky posts): Facebook
Article by Paul Maps
Photograph by Damien Sayell
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