Mclusky

Mcluskyism
Too Pure, 2006

If Mclusky were still around I would overcome my fear of flying, jump on a plane to Wales and have a sex change in the hope of carrying their children. I love the way that, in 'Whoyouknow', vocalist Andy Falkous alternates between the descriptions of someone's heart as "the colour of Coca-Cola" and "the colour of a dust-bin" in a childish sort of sing-song rhythm, as if it was such a brilliant insult that he should be crowned king of the playground. And in 'There Ain't No Fool In Ferguson', where he just reels off unrelated naughty-words while his voice hurtles up and down like a rollercoaster: "Hopeless!/ Hepatitis piss-rag!/ Molotov cocktail!/ Monobrow shit hole!" It's no surprise that their deranged mix of humour and scattergun malice led to constant comparisons with the Pixies. I would go so far as to say they were the second coming.

Mclusky formed in Wales in the late '90s and released three brilliantly-titled albums before calling it a day: My Pain And Sadness Is More Sad And Painful Than Yours, Mclusky Do Dallas and The Difference Between You And Me Is That I'm Not On Fire. The second and third are the best, but if you haven't heard any of them before go instead for Mcluskyism, a compilation released in 2006. I know it's not very cool to champion a "best of", but seriously it is the best 30 minutes of noisy rock and roll to be released this decade.

After Mclusky broke up, Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone went on to perform in Future Of The Left while bassist Jon Chapple relocated to Melbourne and formed a new line-up of his outfit Shooting At Unarmed Men. Neither are quite as good. One of the biggest disappointments of 2007 was Future Of The Left's much-anticipated debut album Curses, a giant pile of averageness that seemed to earn favourable reviews from all corners of the globe without even lifting a finger. With the exception of one or two good tracks, especially the rollicking 'Fingers Become Thumbs!', the whole thing sounded stale and staged in comparison with the spontaneous combustion that was a typical Mclusky song – perhaps it's just that no one had the heart to tell them.