Mugstar – ‘Mugstar’ (Sea) Released 04/12/06

Since it arrived in the late 70’s, the ‘No Wave’ genre has always been the nomadic species of the musical world – wandering lost, confused and with its members longing to be able to shout, “I’m a No Wave, get me out of here!” However, before you reach for the tissues or clamber for a shoulder to cry on, not all ‘no wavers’ are so desperate to find this solace. Mugstar are one of the ones who like their liberty – and really, now that everyone else sounds the same, who can blame them?

Having formed in 2002, it’s taken Mugstar four years to produce their self titled debut album. However, this Liverpool based four-piece haven’t been slouching about meaninglessly. They’ve toured tirelessly with compatriots that include Mogwai and Acid Mothers Temple, plying their trade wherever, and to whoever they can. Similarly, while the album sleeve seems malnourished with just eight tracks listed, there’s still 40 minutes of music here (although at times the word ‘music’ is attached loosely).

'Mugstar' is an album that’s drenched in dynamic experimentation from the opening combo of ‘My Baby Skull Has Not Yet Flowered,’ which starts like a psychedelic tribute to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and, ‘Crempog Smultron’ (Mugstar’s homage to ‘Krautrock’). Both are unrelenting thunderbolts of beat and bass which show no eagerness to conform. While the rest of the album doesn’t maintains the beat driven intensity, its undeniable nihilism runs throughout. Lyrical content (putting the filtered News samples to one side) is non existent; therefore, Mugstar rely on the physical texture to trigger emotions. The album is planned like one long journey, with each track fusing into the next. The melancholic chill of ‘Subtle Freak,’ for example, is juxtaposed with the ferocious charge of ‘Man With Supersight.’ While it’s a confusion of genres you wouldn’t expect (let alone normally want) Mugstar carry it off valiantly. 

Perhaps, understandably, their rejection of normality does catch up with them. The albums two ‘filler-tracks’ are pointless - particularly, ‘Children Of The Gravy,’ which is simply 60 seconds of white noise drivel. Also, at time things just get ‘a bit too much.’ With an average song length of four and a half minutes, songs like the initially intrepid ‘Floatation Tank’ are lost through morose sound clashes.           

With their debut, Mugstar have certainly produced an album which is wigglier than a widgety-grub in the palms of David Guest. Powerful from the outset, even when the drums relent, the album still maintains its viscosity through powerful structuring. It’s just frustrating that the pre-planned journey isn’t along one long smooth road.