The last time your favorite group released an album was when George W. Bush was President of the United States of America. Maybe we didn't like him then, but with how things are now, Bush seemed like a spineless little brother who could not do significant harm. The world is now a big mess.
Thankfully, your favorite group (or, at least, your new favorite group you didn't know had been around for a quarter-century) is quite efficient and ready to make great new sounds. What took them so long? Who knows, but the world needs them now more than ever, and they have arrived to save us.
Of course, I am speaking about Cardiff's own mclusky. Their catalog now consists of four full-length studio albums, and the years of release look like this: 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2025. 21 years, my friends, is too long, but who are we to judge? At least when Andrew Falkous and mates hit "record," the good stuff came out.
mclusky might have have produced the best album of 2025
Mclusky released The World is Still Here and So Are We in May, and it took fans about one day to fall in love. That is right and good and how it should be because while some of the tracks, such as "unpopular parts of a pig," were recorded several years ago, the whole thing feels fresh, as if the album was written, recorded, and released in about three days.
The best post-hardcore and post-punk music sounds in such a way. There is no intent to come across as breaking through a new sound. It's all a throwback to places that never existed, but we wish they had. Mclusky's latest record is the one the Clash should have made after London Calling.
There is no doubt that Falkous, Jack Egglestone, and Damien Sayell are self-aware enough that a tracklist should not have meaning. While all the tracks on the new record are worthy of being heard as one-offs, the way they are ordered is obviously intentional.
For instance, "the competent horse thief" comes in sixth on the album, just in time for a slight breather. The first five songs are pure adrenaline rushes, highlighted by "unpopular part..." and "people person" (you are dared to not have this earworm stuck in your head for weeks). The song that follows "comptent horse" is pure punk as if the band is awakening us from a nap.
By the time the final song, "hate the polis," arrives, we are met with something like Blur, but only if that great band had kept making themes on "Song 2." It's brilliant and leaves us wanting more. Let's hope it's not another 21 years.