McLusky--such an awkward child...Mclusky Does Dallas is bigger than your love

Bring On The Go-Getters....Obvious Ploy, and Irresponsible

My inexplicable obsession with Wales continues. I bought McLusky does Dallas and it was one of the those albums that had an immediate positive reaction on me. Completely mad, surreal and cynical lyrics, over the top noise. I was pretty amazed that a band this amazing had eluded me for so long. I found about them accidentally on Amazon, I think. Never heard of them before, but they sounded like they were right up my alley. Though there is little comparison musically, their attitude reminds a bit of The Replacements. We want to take over the world but on our own terms, but we might just wind up smashing it up along the way. I wish I could get a hold of one of their shitrock t-shirts. And all that gleeful apocalyptic venom in their music never fails to cheer me up.

Musically they are a big ugly mosh up of Pixies, Big Black and the Beastie Boys. They are fantastically noisy but also masters of dynamics and tempo. They are masters also of  "did he just say what I think he said"? The first salvo of Dallas is Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues and that is just the first skirmish in an absurd anthem war. Nothing makes sense here but it all makes perfect sense. They shock while they rock. And they have a hilarious skewed  and often mean vision of the world. After all they wrote the song The World Loves Us And Is Our Bitch. "you need some cokecokecokecoke inspiration, for your seven year itch".



The late lamented McLusky was comprised of Andy Falkous, guitar/vocals, Jonathan Chapple on bass, and
Matthew Harding on drumkit. Do Dallas was engineered by Steve Albini (Big Black, recorded In Utero), and the sound quality on this album is awesome, thunderous, yet with empty cavernous spacious dropouts. Actually, the Albini connection is probably how I heard about this band. To Hell With Good Intentions is a manic shout along "My LOVE IS Bigger Than Your Love--Sing It! Whoyouknow is a snotty Beastiesesque rap-noise crossover. "your hearts gone the color of Coca-Cola, rescind yourself as you get older. Yet they also come up with a pithy phrase like "obscurity is not a badge", or "notoriety follows you like beatings follow rain".

I'm saddened that the band broke up back in 2005, but maybe they did as much damage as they were going to do. Falkous is in Future of the Left, and Chapple is now Shooting at Unarmed Men. But the Mclusky legacy lives on. I doubt many people know about them in the US, but they really ought to. This huge insane mess of a band could do no wrong in my book. Consider the lyrics from Fuck This Band. "FTB.. cos their clothes don't fit, but their dancing clowns... are incredible... The song is a hilariously cynical indictment of the music hype machine, who probably felt Mclusky was in desperate need of a time out.

Before they broke up they also put out the excellent The Difference Between Me And You Is I'm Not On Fire which if you appreciate Does Dallas you need to own. Pundits probably rate Dallas a little higher, but I don't see any real qualitative difference. Both records are superb. They make great gifts for the noise lover in your family, or if you want to finish off your rich grandma before the end of the year before the death tax kicks in again in the US. A slab for all the patriots and good time girls out there.



This is Without MSG I Am Nothing, from their last album. Everywhere I look there's a Darkness.