IN any assessment of Mogwai’s debut album their youth warrants mention, even outside of the title’s reference to Glasgow teens with criminal gang affiliations. At the time of recording, guitarist John Cummings was just 18, the others not a whole lot older, but by any measure Mogwai Young Team is an impressive first, a foundational record that not only supported future extensions to, and experiments with, their sound but also featured one track (“Like Herod”) whose devastating quiet/loud dynamic stands as an exemplar in the field, 25 years on.
Recorded by Chemikal Underground label boss Paul Savage for £2,000, the sessions were, by all accounts, disorganised and rushed. This was largely due to the release deadline they’d naively set is a channelling of its players’ affections and ambition: The Cure, Sabbath, My Bloody Valentine, Swans, Fennesz, Satie and (though less determinative than is often claimed) Slint all play a part in these moody, post-rock instrumentals. They’re more spirit guides than anything, though, and the record’s elemental force is all Mogwai’s own.
