The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire in Bloomington, MN

Working again with sonic wizard
Steve Albini
,
Mclusky
offer up their rawest-to-date album with
The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire
. While it's not as catchy or melodic as
Mclusky Do Dallas
, the band's third full-length is just as much of a thunderous assault.
Albini
frequently buries the mad screams of
Andy Falkous
beneath a mountain of scratchy, barbaric guitars, and the band seems, for the most part, more serious than usual. But with song titles like
"Your Children Are Waiting for You to Die"
and mad
chants
about traveling by rickshaw, boogie board, and x-wings, ample wit still rears its head. If the overall feel veered toward
the Pixies
in the past, here there's an
experimental
touch that often recalls
the Fall
Wire
, and
Pavement
. One can argue either that
Falkous
is more angry or that he's maturing as a composer. Either way, listeners weaned on '90s staples like
Girls Against Boys
and
the Jesus Lizard
will find much to love, as the album almost feels like a love letter to aggressive '90s
indie rock
. The overt weirdness and sociopathic vibes of the band's previous albums have been replaced by a focus on funky, flailing guitars that are simultaneously
punk
thrash
.
's hands are all over this album, or one might say, not all over the album, as one gets the sense that this is the unadorned sound of the band simply destroying the studio.
is an invigorating and glorious mess of undistilled
rock
fury. ~ Tim DiGravina