Mclusky

by Johnny LoftusMclusky, a ragged Welsh trio indebted to both punk and indie rock, first showed up on the scene in 1998. Led by Andrew Falkous (vocals/guitar), the band also originally included Matthew Harding (drums) and Jonathan Chapple (bass). Mclusky debuted on wax in the U.K. with 2000's My Pain and Sadness Is More Sad and Painful Than Yours (Fuzzbox). They next signed with Too Pure and hooked up with Steve Albini to produce their sophomore effort. The holdover singles Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues and To Hell with Good Intentions were issued before the Mclusky Do Dallas full-length dropped from Too Pure in April 2002. The album was roundly hailed as a great leap forward from the charming yet nevertheless amateurish My Pain, and made quite a few year-end best-of lists on both sides of the Atlantic. Summer 2003 saw the issue of the Undress for Success single, but Harding was then sacked in favor of skinsman Jack Eggleston. (Harding would go on to join Transposer.) Mclusky made the festival rounds in the U.K. that summer and continued to work on their third full-length. The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire arrived in 2004, but by the following year the band decided to call it a day. An expanded version of the collection Mcluskyism was released early in 2006.