Very few things stay consistent over twenty years. Within two decades, children will become adults, world leaders will trade positions, and pop culture will experience many trends. A wise man once said that life’s only constants were death and taxes, but on May 9, a third consistency is added to the short list. Mclusky, the post-hardcore titans, have lain dormant since the release of their 2004 LP, leaving behind three incredible punk LPs that positioned the band as one of the next great hopes for the genre. Now, twenty years since we last heard from them, Mclusky releases The World Is Still Here and So Are We, a fantastically aggressive and intricately crafted set of 13 hardcore pieces of punk with urgent messaging, cartoonish vocals, and a head-spinning veteran presence.
Mclusky’s latest incarnation features founding member Andrew Falkous, longstanding drummer Jack Egglestone, and bassist Damien Sayell, who joined the band when their resurgence started in 2014. While The World Is Still Here and So Are We marks the triumphant return of Mclusky, this album is more than the band’s past. This is simply and purely refreshing punk from a band who knows the genre as well as anybody, and sure, the band’s legacy and tireless years of honing their sound play an undeniable role, but it should not be the primary focus. Mclusky sounds fresh and innovative even as they craft an album, not for the sake of cashing in the currency of nostalgia but to unleash the ideas that the band has stored for nearly two decades.
There are a lot of elements at play on Mclusky’s latest, and they all blend beautifully to create an unadulterated piece of punk that is, in one word, undeniable. The album starts with “Unpopular Parts of a Pig,” the wildly animated single with explosive crescendos and vocals that switch from quaint aggression to strep-throat yelps. The album’s intro would be a loose blueprint for The World Is Still Here and So Are We. While the band employs similar tendencies throughout the LP, we hear this new side of their artistry evolve before our ears, with the tracklist only becoming more complex as it goes on. Moments like “Not All Steeplejacks” have the band slowing things down with a lo-fi warmth, while the dense “Cops and Coppers” harkens back to 80s hardcore with low, grumbling vocals and chugging guitars. Sonically, the album leaps from one mood to the next, landing perfectly like an Olympic gymnast with both feet confidently planted in their lofty visions.
For every sonic shift on The World Is Still Here and So Are We, a lyrical connective tissue connects Mclusky’s ideas. The writing of Mclusky’s long-awaited fourth LP steals the show, tackling personal and social truths with a vague poetry that adds another layer to the band’s onslaught of experimentation. A moment like the murky “People Person” aims at the phoniness of the modern world, “Kafka-esque Novelist Franz Kafka” points a finger at the downfalls of instant gratification, and “The Battle of Los Angelsea” is the band’s left-field take on a love ballad. These, of course, are merely one interpretation, and it sounds like Mclusky wrote this album exactly for that reason. The band’s lyrical approach on The World Is Still Here and So Are We is meant to be a kaleidoscope of emotions and experiences that are deeply personal to the band, yet presented in a way where the listener can envision themselves in these emotional states and connect deeply with the band’s reality.
Mclusky’s long-awaited fourth LP is everything a fan could ask for, and even more for those just discovering the band’s underrated legacy. The World Is Still Here and So Are We is an apocalyptic, brutally honest piece of modern punk that twirls and twists in the glimmering light of its purity and thoughtfulness. The world has changed significantly in the two decades since the last Mclusky album, sending its population into a typhoon of societal standards and polished public statements. The World Is Still Here and So Are We is a wildly refreshing departure from the manicured world we live in, and welcomes back one of punk’s most innovative and underappreciated bands.Â
