Scottish Albums of the Decade #14: Mogwai - Happy Songs For Happy People

The short but sweet Rock Action may have set a new course for Blur-botherers Mogwai, but Happy Songs For Happy People was where the journey really began. Opening track Hunted By A Freak set the blueprint, bringing in gorgeous waves of electronic and forlorn vocoders as much as their more traditional sounds. The contrasts were still there, but were subtler, maturer even. Killing All The Flies features a typical ‘Gwai dynamic, but adds more texture and restraint than just quiet-LOUD.

However, Young Team devotees could still find solace in the monolithic centrepiece Ratts of the Capital or the joyous cacophony of closer Stop Coming To My House. In the Mogwai canon, this, their fourth album, sometimes seems overlooked by what came before and after, but if you’re looking for their most consistent, atmospheric and forward-thinking work, Happy Songs For Happy People will put a big, if slightly ominous, smile on your face.