Although their last album 'Rock Action' was the closest a group of post-rockers could get to the mainstream, the brevity of the album and its unnecessary collaborations was a step backwards in terms of creativity. It is good news in one sense, therefore, that Mogwai have gone back to basics with an album that is largely based in guitar-led instrumentals. No one should complain about 'Kids Will Be Skeletons'; a definite return to form as the guitar parts slowly build up into an epic, expansive conclusion. The vocodered twosome of 'Killing All THe Flies' and 'Hunted By A Freak' also impress; finding that fine line between tangible sadness and power. However, other tracks here - in particular the second-half of 'Ratts Of The Capital' and 'Stop Coming To My House' - attempt the same trick but verge towards noise, forfeiting the more restrained sounds of their 'Come On Die Young' effort which still remains their most enduring work. Frustratingly still, the three shortest efforts on the album promise so much (two of them echoing the marvellous understatements of Epic45) but then end before they've even begun. Mogwai have become a fashionable name to drop in recent years but they do threaten to believe their own hype at times. For now then - even though half of this album is very good - the anticipation for the next Bark Psychosis album grows ever stronger.