The early 2000s guitar rock wave which made stars out of the Strokes and the White Stripes left noisier Cardiff post-hardcore types Mclusky underground, despite a hugely acclaimed album in 2002’s Mclusky Does Dallas. Still, two decades after their acrimonious split, the trio’s fourth album The World Is Still Here and So Are We – their first in 21 years – is getting rave reviews and they’re playing to packed houses. “Three songs in and we’ve already broken a guitar string,” sighs singer and guitarist Andrew “Falco” Falkous, insisting: “That’s not a badge of honour. It’s a technical problem.”
The frontman’s ongoing struggles with tinnitus and hyperacusis mean he now has to perform wearing noise-cancelling headphones and needs a plexiglass sound barrier around Jack Egglestone’s drum kit, but with new bassist Damien Sayall thrashing away like his life depended on it they’ve lost none of their intensity. Their furious songs suggest a British Jesus Lizard or Fugazi, but the reflective She Will Only Bring You Happiness or hypnotically groovy new People Person take them somewhere else entirely.
Meanwhile, Falco’s dizzying imagery and teeth-gritted delivery suggest a brilliantly absurdist wordsmith and wit in the tradition of Pere Ubu’s David Thomas or the Fall’s Mark E Smith. “Your heart’s gone the colour of Coca-Cola”, the singer yells at one point. “Your mother was a ballpoint pen thief” at another. When he cries “I’m just a normal man!” with the music as taut as a stretched elastic band, it’s dazzling.
Back in the day, singles with titles such as Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues or the superb Alan Is a Cowboy Killer were never destined to go Top 20, but are now greeted like old friends, with newbies such as Way of the Exploding Dickhead running them close already. Perhaps a world which has made the noisy likes of Idles and Fontaines DC stars will prove more receptive to Mclusky this time, but whatever happens, it’s good to have them back.
• At EartH, London, 29 May, then touring.
