Mogwai‘s 1999 second album Come On Die Young might not have gotten as good reviews as their debut Young Team – and it’s not my favourite of theirs either – it holds a special place in my heart as the first Mogwai record I heard, starting a devotion to their music that has waxed and waned over the years but has been riding high over the last ten years, when “everything they do kind of sounds the same” ceased being any kind of complaint and was their prime selling point. Because man, do I love me some Mogwai.
Last April, in the pandemic’s early days, Stuart Braithwaite and whomever had the keys to the band’s account participated in Tim Burgess’ #TimsTwitterListeningParty, reflecting on the record. Incidentally, it was their first with producer Dave Fridmann, who would helm their next album Rock Action and then come back to work with them on 2017’s Every Country’s Sun and again shortly after this listening party for the just-released As The Love Continues, which would be the band’s first #1 UK record in their 25-year history.
Mogwai / Come On Die Young @ Tim’s Twitter Listening Party
In additional CODY content, MAGNET talked to the band in 2015 about making the record:
MAGNET Classics: Mogwai’s Come On Die Young @ MAGNET
On the occasion of the record’s 20th anniversary in 2019, Stereogum assembled a retrospective of the record and its attendant press at the time of its release:
Mogwai’s Come On, Die Young Turns 20 @ Stereogum
And if you wanted to know how to play “Christmas Steps” on guitar – or just listen to a full MIDI arrangement of the 10-minute album centrepiece – Songsterr has you covered with playable full-band tablature:
