If ever there were a band that fitted the old adage of "writing about music is like dancing about architecture", then Mogwai is it. Seven albums, one soundtrack and countless EP's have littered their 11 year career. A recent reissue of their seminal debut Young Team has graced the shelves just prior to the release of this, The Hawk Is Howling, their latest long-player. For a band who helped define a whole new genre of music, ten years of making records must take their toll creatively. Hawk is a record that doesn't exactly sound that different from previous efforts and yet there's something different here. This is one of their few releases to not feature any vocals at all and, without doubt, it's one of their most mellow efforts to date. It doesn't follow the same aggressive line of thinking and "toys out of the pram" affair of Mr. Beast, which seemed to be a political outburst and release of energy. Hawk gently wallows in its own noise. It sways between gentle piano led tracks like 'I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead' to fuzzed up guitar drenched pieces like 'Batcat'.It's not really the sound of a band pushing themselves, but it is the sound of a band who are comfortable with their sound and who play it exceedingly well. Those archetypal riffs still hacksaw through my brain when they hit, thse quiet-LOUD passages still burst with chaos. 'The Sun Smells Too Loud' though could be the very first post-rock pop song. Its beautiful and tender riffs sound not unlike Sigur Ros at their most BBC-soundtracking-best. It's odd to hear Mogwai playing something so laid back, but it works.Mogwai may no longer be the blaze-trailers for the post-rock junkies, and I'm one of those junkies, but this is still the sound of a band behaving themselves and releasing a record that feels completely comfortable. It's almost as if its been released as an antidote to the rough, aggressive and challenging debut that's recently been reissued. Perhaps that's the point - this is the sound of a band who have finally grown up and have nothing left to prove. 75%Mogwai on Myspace