''Mogwai Young Team'' (also known as ''Young Team'') is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Scottish

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

band

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogw ...

. Produced by Paul Savage and Andy Miller, the album was released on 21 October 1997 through the Chemikal Underground record label. ''Mogwai Young Team'' was re-released in May 2008 on Chemikal Underground, packaged as a remaster of the original album with a second disc containing rare tracks from the ''Young Team'' sessions and live recordings. Of the second disc, only "Young Face Gone Wrong" was previously unreleased; the following three tracks had earlier appeared on various compilation albums and other releases.

Overview

''Mogwai Young Team'' was recorded in summer 1997 at MCM Studios (now known as Gargleblast Studios) in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Scotland, and was produced by Paul Savage and Andy Miller. It is largely

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

, with one notable exception ("

R U Still in 2 It "R U Still in 2 It" is a song by Scottish post-rock band Mogwai from their 1997 debut studio album, ''Young Team''. Background It is one of the only songs Mogwai have released which could be considered a love song; the lyrics of "R U Still in 2 ...

", which features vocals from Aidan Moffat of

Arab Strap Arab Strap are a Scottish indie rock band whose core members are Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, split in 2006 and reformed in 2016. The band signed to Rock Action Reco ...

), although many songs feature recordings of various individuals speaking, whether over the phone (" Tracy"), reading (" Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home"), or just rambling ("Katrien"). It features limited instrumentation, consisting mainly of

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, although other instruments can sometimes be heard throughout the album, such as

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

("Tracy"),

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

("Radar Maker", "With Portfolio", "A Cheery Wave from Stranded Youngsters") and

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(" Mogwai Fear Satan"). The band had only written three of the songs before they entered the studio. The cover, a photo taken and inverted by

Brendan O'Hare Brendan O'Hare (born 16 January 1970) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, primarily known for being the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai. Career O'Hare ...

, is of a

Fuji Bank The was one of Japan's major banks during the post–World War II era. It combined with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan in 2000 to form Mizuho Financial Group, and changed its name to Mizuho Corporate Bank in 2002 after t ...

branch (since acquired by Mizuho Financial Group) located in

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The "MYT" logo found inside the cover was created by Adam Piggot and is based on a popular mark used by young gangs in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

; a "Young Team" is specific to an area: "Sighthill Young Team", for example. The band took up pseudonyms for the liner notes on the album. Stuart Braithwaite was dubbed pLasmatroN. John Cummings took the nickname Cpt. Meat after his obsession for eating chops. Martin Bulloch adopted the alias bionic because of his heart

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

. Dominic Aitchison chose the name DEMONIC because of his childhood fear and nightmares of Lucifer, which would also inspire the album's end song Mogwai Fear Satan. Brendan O'Hare, who was the oldest of the group by six years at 27 and had already been in several recording bands, was named +the relic+.

Reception

''Mogwai Young Team'' peaked at number 75 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The album sold more than 60,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In 2003, ''Mogwai Young Team'' was listed at number 97 on '' Pitchfork''s Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.

Track listing

Personnel

Mogwai * Stuart Braithwaite (listed as "pLasmatroN") –

* Dominic Aitchison (listed as "DEMONIC") –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Martin Bulloch (listed as "bionic") –

* John Cummings (listed as "Cpt. Meat") – guitar *

(listed as "+the relic+") –

, guitar Additional musicians *

Barry Burns Barry Burns is a Scottish musician best known for his work with post-rock band Mogwai. Early life Burns went to Cardinal Newman High School in Bellshill before enrolling with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, taking ...

– backmasked

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

on "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" * Mari Myren –

on "Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" * Aidan Moffat –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

on "R U Still in 2 It" * Shona Brown –

on "Mogwai Fear Satan" Production * Paul Savage –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Andy Miller – production Artwork and design * Keith Cameron – liner notes (for 2008 deluxe reissue) * Brendan O'Hare – cover photography * Neale Smith – photography

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Mogwai albums 1997 debut albums Chemikal Underground albums