The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire

AMG Review of The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire

Tim DiGravina
All Music Guide

Working again with sonic wizard Steve Albini, Mclusky offer up their rawest-to-date album with The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire. While it's not as catchy or melodic as Mclusky Do Dallas, the band's third full-length is just as much of a thunderous assault. Albini frequently buries the mad screams of Andy Falkous beneath a mountain of scratchy, barbaric guitars, and the band seems, for the most part, more serious than usual. But with song titles like "Your Children Are Waiting for You to Die" and mad chants about traveling by rickshaw, boogie board, and x-wings, ample wit still rears its head. If the overall feel veered toward the Pixies in the past, here there's an experimental touch that often recalls the Fall, Wire, and Pavement. One can argue either that Falkous is more angry or that he's maturing as a composer. Either way, listeners weaned on '90s staples like Girls Against Boys and the Jesus Lizard will find much to love, as the album almost feels like a love letter to aggressive '90s indie rock. The overt weirdness and sociopathic vibes of the band's previous albums have been replaced by a focus on funky, flailing guitars that are simultaneously punk and hrash. Albini's hands are all over this album, or one might say, not all over the album, as one gets the sense that this is the unadorned sound of the band simply destroying the studio. The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire is an invigorating and glorious mess of undistilled ock fury.