After two decades of side projects and pseudo-reunions, the revered Welsh rock trio Mclusky have finally recorded a new album—their first in 20 years. The World Is Still Here and So Are We arrives May 9, via Ipecac, and you can hear a single from it, “Way of the Exploding Dickhead,” below. The single comes with a Remy Lamont–directed video filled with satirical scenes of self-betterment.
Andrew Falkous said of the song, “With a title modeled on/ripped off a formative video game (The Way of the Exploding Fist on the ZX Spectrum), and lyrics inspired by the huge excitement caused by the surge pricing on tickets to see a band play well in the distance, ‘Way of the Exploding Dickhead’ is a modern parable, without the parable bit.”
Led by Falkous, the current lineup is completed by drummer Jack Egglestone (a 2003 appointee) and bassist Damien Sayell, who has played live in iterations of the band throughout its sporadic semi-reunions. A press release bills “Way of the Exploding Dickhead” as part of a two-song single with “Unpopular Parts of a Pig,” which featured on another double-A side single, with “The Digger You Deep,” in 2023. All three songs appear on the album; check out the tracklist below.
The final album of Mclusky’s first phase was 2004’s The Difference Between Me and You Is That I’m Not on Fire. After that, they released the great compilation Mcluskyism and finally split, leaving Falkous to focus on side projects that include another palpable influence on the last decade of British rock, Future of the Left. As Falkous’ imprint grew on the waves of acerbic rock, post-hardcore, and postpunk that followed, he and assorted bandmates occasionally played Mclusky sets at gigs billed under caveated names: Mclusky* and ‘Mclusky’ were two. The 2023 single was their first in 19 years, and only now have they committed to releasing an album. According to whoever wrote the press release—and it has all the hallmarks of a Falkous missive—the name had an asterisk “for a bit—out of respect for past band members and the precious memorial glue of teenage musical crushes—but fuck that, in for a penny, in for a pound.”
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The World Is Still Here and So Are We:
01 Unpopular Parts of a Pig02 Cops and Coppers03 Way of the Exploding Dickhead04 The Battle of Los Angelsea05 People Person06 The Competent Horse Thief07 Kafka-Esque Novelist Franz Kafka08 The Digger You Deep09 Autofocus on the Prime Directive10 Not All Steeplejacks11 Chekhov’s Guns12 Juan Party-System13 Hate the Polis
