Mclusky - 'The Difference Between Me & You Is That I'm Not On Fire' (Too Pure)
5/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Pay attention - there are only three kinds of humour that will keep you laughing, no matter how often you've heard the joke; the offensive, the weird, and the downright dark. Mclusky know this. They've done the silly thing, the short quirky little demented pop song strewn across last effort 'Do Dallas', now it's time for business - seriously creepy business.
Mclusky still make jokes, this lengthily-titled affair is littered with them, but they themselves sure aren't a joke anymore. They're now a scary, dangerous band, and want you to know it right from the start. Opener 'Without MSG I Am Nothing' brings the dark wit, the most sinister thing they've done so far, and also the catchiest; whether it's the cuckoo-noises or bellows of 'everywhere I look is a darkness' that gets you the most, you'll be falling over yourself to join in. It conjures pictures not by sounding atmospheric or touching, but by having an irresistible power to get us to summon an image of exactly what the combo look like whilst they're pummelling out these devil's ditties - wide-eyed, drooling over microphones, bullying guitars as if they're trying to extract their lunch money.
Then the offensive stuff, because you see, all good humour is offensive in some way (it's either that or you're Penelope Keith, and as we know, Mclusky are more a punk-rock version of 'The Young Ones'). For the duration of a fabulous 'She Will Only Bring You Happiness' (the best Mclusky song you haven't heard yet) they sound gloriously melodic, something they've only ever hinted at on a little effort called 'Flysmoke' many years ago, but they end it off with a chorus that repeats to absurdity 'Our old singer is a sex criminal' - and they do it in a round. Do the japes get boring? No, because the tunes are so thunderous. Shouting along with lyrics like that is a guilty pleasure every time. Heck, we haven't even begun to talk about the likes of 'KK Kitchens, What Were You Thinking?' yet...
Worry ye not, it isn't all jokes, it's just rarely very serious. You don't get the impression that they came up with such ridiculous titles so that their admirers could guffaw at how frightfully clever they're being; they're just not interested in naming things the same old boring way everyone else does. You're more likely to remember a track if it's called 'Forget About Him, I'm Mint' aren't you? Especially if the great title is coupled with a tune this terrific (and the arrival of some uncharacteristic trumpets and righteous sentiment, 'Everywhere I go I want to travel by boogie board, boogie board...').
'Come on quick and name the dead, I'm sure we got a scrabble score...' - as you'll have gathered, it's tempting to just let sound-bites from the lyrics-sheet review the record, as they aptly sum up the venom, the weirdness, the childishness of it so well. But of course, it sounds brilliant too (cheers, Mr Albini), unbearably heavy, punishing with its discordance, unrelenting with its twisted take on all things musical.
All serves to infer: the greatest Mclusky album by far, the fulfilment of all their previous cocky, ambitious promises. Simply, few others manage to so consistently be this despicably addictive.
Artists in this article: Mclusky
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