Come On Die Young

Songs for Come On Die Young were written by the band members at home or together in the rehearsal room.{{cite web |last1=Tucker |first1=Simon |title=Louder Than War Interview: Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai |url=https://louderthanwar.com/interview-stuart-braithwaite-mogwai/ |website=Louder Than War |accessdate=8 November 2018 |date=10 July 2014}} Wanting a sparser sound, Mogwai drew influences from Seventeen Seconds by The Cure and Spiderland by Slint{{cite web |last1=Pattinson |first1=Louis |title=Mogwai – Come On Die Young Deluxe Edition|url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/mogwai-come-on-die-young-deluxe-edition |website=Uncut |accessdate=8 November 2018 |date=27 June 2014}} as well as Low, Nick Drake and The For Carnation.{{cite web |last1=Amorosi |first1=AD |title=MAGNET CLASSICS: MOGWAI'S "COME ON DIE YOUNG" |url=http://magnetmagazine.com/2015/09/21/magnet-classics-mogwais-come-on-die-young/ |website=Magnet |date=21 September 2015 |accessdate=8 November 2018}} The songs "Christmas Steps" and "Ex-Cowboy" had been played live by the band during the tour for Mogwai Young Team. The album was recorded in three weeks at Tarbox Road Studios in Cassadaga, New York with producer Dave Fridmann{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Ben |title=Come on, feel the noise |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/pop-come-on-feel-the-noise-1081548.html |website=The Independent |accessdate=8 November 2018 |date=19 March 1999}} and was the first Mogwai recording to feature multi-instrumentalist Barry Burns.Laing, Dave and Phil Hardy. "Mogwai". Book Excerpt (2001). Mogwai. Rock's Backpages. Accessed November 8, 2018. http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/mogwai The original intended running time of the album was extended after Mogwai's record label, Chemikal Underground, persuaded them to include more of the songs they had recorded. Come On Die Young is somewhat different from the rest of Mogwai's work because of its reserved tone. The album's second track "Cody" is much more like a traditional pop song than most of the band's repertoire. Still slow and sinuous, it features an uncharacteristically distinct melody, slide guitar and relatively prominent vocals. Much of Come On Die Young consists of slow, quiet, drum-driven tracks containing tense, feedback-laden crescendos and occasionally ambient textures. Near the end of the album, the bombastic "Christmas Steps" breaks away from this quiet tension and displays a return to Mogwai's more well-known distortion-heavy dynamics. The album's title derives from a Glasgow gang of the same name.{{Cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8yoEAAAAMBAJ&q=mogwai&pg=PA27 |title=The Scottish Scoundrels in Mogwai Give Glasgow a Good Name |author=Douglas Wolk |work=CMJ New Music Monthly |issue=69 |date=May 1999 |page=27 |accessdate=February 9, 2011}}

• "Punk Rock:" samples a speech made by Iggy Pop during an interview with Peter Gzowski on the CBC, broadcast on 11 March 1977.{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1977-gzowski-interviews-iggy-pop | title=Iggy Pop, punk pioneer, on Peter Gzowski's 90 Minutes Live | work=CBC News}}
• The album cover, which features the face of Dominic Aitchison, was inspired by Captain Howdy from The Exorcist.
• The song "Cody" featured in the second episode of the first series of teen drama Skins.
• The post-black metal band Deafheaven covered "Punk Rock" and "Cody" for the 2012 split EP Deafheaven / Bosse-de-Nage.
• The original version of the song "Helps Both Ways", commonly referred to as the "Madden version", featured John Madden's commentary on the first quarter of the American Football National Football Conference championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers, played on January 11, 1998, at 1 pm PST at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. As its use was unauthorized, the commentary track was replaced by another American Football commentary track.

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/come-on-die-young-mw0000050579 |title=Come on Die Young – Mogwai |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=9 February 2011 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}

| rev2 = The Guardian

| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |title=Tunespotting |work=The Guardian |date=2 April 1999 |last=O'Reilly |first=John}}

| rev3 = The Independent

| rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/pop-album-reviews-1083409.html |title=Pop: Album Reviews |work=The Independent |date=27 March 1999 |accessdate=7 March 2020 |last=Perry |first=Tim}}

| rev4 = Melody Maker

| rev4Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite journal |title=Dead from the Neck Down |journal=Melody Maker |date=3 April 1999 |last=Kulkarni |first=Neil |page=110}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5Score = 8/10{{cite journal |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19990224154459reviews.html |title=Mogwai – Come On Die Young |journal=NME |date=23 March 1999 |accessdate=2 May 2016 |last=Williams |first=Simon |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817193646/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19990224154459reviews.html |archivedate=17 August 2000}}

| rev6 = Pitchfork

| rev6Score = 8.3/10{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19466-mogwai-come-on-die-young-deluxe-edition/ |title=Mogwai: Come On Die Young |work=Pitchfork |date=18 June 2014 |accessdate=18 June 2014 |last=Berman |first=Stuart}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite journal |title=Mogwai: Come On Die Young |journal=Q |issue=152 |date=May 1999 |page=110}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/mogwai/albums/album/104940/review/5945185/come_on_die_young |title=Mogwai: Come On Die Young |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=15 April 1999 |accessdate=16 January 2017 |last=Gross |first=Joe |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215095331/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/mogwai/albums/album/104940/review/5945185/come_on_die_young |archivedate=15 February 2009}}

| rev9 = Spin

| rev9Score = 7/10{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayeEJMF-CZUC&pg=PT18 |title=Mogwai: Come On Die Young |journal=Spin |volume=15 |issue=5 |date=May 1999 |accessdate=2 May 2016 |last=Kun |first=Josh |page=154}}

| rev10 = The Village Voice

| rev10Score = C{{cite news |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/ts99-99.php |title=Consumer Guide: Turkey Shoot |work=The Village Voice |date=30 November 1999 |accessdate=2 May 2016 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}}

}}

Come On Die Young received a somewhat muted reception when compared to Mogwai Young Team. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for AllMusic, wrote that "perhaps Come On Die Young wouldn't have seemed as disappointing if it hadn't arrived on the wave of hype and expectation, but the truth is, it pales in comparison to their own work."

{{Track listing

|title1 = Punk Rock:

|writer1 = Stuart Braithwaite

|length1 = 2:09

|title2 = Cody

|writer2 = Braithwaite

|length2 = 6:33

|title3 = Helps Both Ways

|writer3 = Dominic Aitchison

|length3 = 4:53

|title4 = Year 2000 Non-Compliant Cardia

|writer4 = {{hlist|Braithwaite|Martin Bulloch}}

|length4 = 3:26

|title5 = Kappa

|writer5 = {{hlist|Aitchison|Braithwaite}}

|length5 = 4:53

|title6 = Waltz for Aidan

|writer6 = {{hlist|Aitchison|Braithwaite}}

|length6 = 3:44

|title7 = May Nothing But Happiness Come Through Your Door

|writer7 = {{hlist|Aitchison|Braithwaite|Barry Burns}}

|length7 = 8:30

|title8 = Oh! How the Dogs Stack Up

|writer8 = Burns

|length8 = 2:04

|title9 = Ex-Cowboy

|writer9 = Aitchison

|length9 = 9:09

|title10 = Chocky

|writer10 = {{hlist|Bulloch|Burns|John Cummings}}

|length10 = 9:23

|title11 = Christmas Steps

|writer11 = {{hlist|Aitchison|Braithwaite}}

|length11 = 10:39

|title12 = Punk Rock/Puff Daddy/ANʇICHRISʇ

|writer12 = Braithwaite

|length12 = 2:14

|total_length = 67:38

}}

{{Track listing

|headline = 2014 re-release bonus tracks (Vinyl LP + CD releases)

|title1 = Nick Drake

|length1 = 3:14

|title2 = Waltz for Aidan

|note2 = Chem19 Demo

|length2 = 3:40

|title3 = Christmas Steps

|note3 = Chem19 Demo; available on vinyl LP version only

|length3 = 6:41

|title4 = Rollerball

|note4 = Chem19 Demo

|length4 = 3:51

|title5 = 7:25

|note5 = Chem19 Demo; available on vinyl LP version only

|length5 = 6:37

|title6 = Untitled

|note6 = Travels in Constants, Vol. 12 EP

|length6 = 6:07

|title7 = Quiet Stereo Dee

|note7 = Travels in Constants, Vol. 12 EP

|length7 = 4:07

|title8 = Arundel

|note8 = Travels in Constants, Vol. 12 EP

|length8 = 2:59

|title9 = Cody

|note9 = CaVa Sessions

|length9 = 5:58

|title10 = Ex-Cowboy

|note10 = CaVa Sessions

|length10 = 9:12

|title11 = Spoon Test

|note11 = CaVa Sessions

|length11 = 6:29

|title12 = Punk Rock:

|note12 = CaVa Sessions

|length12 = 2:12

|title13 = Helicon 2

|note13 = CaVa Church Live

|length13 = 3:05

|title14 = Satchel Panzer

|note14 = CaVa Church Live

|length14 = 1:24

|title15 = Kappa

|note15 = CaVa Church Live

|length15 = 4:38

|title16 = Helps Both Ways

|note16 = Original Version

|length16 = 5:22

|title17 = Hugh Dallas

|length17 = 8:31

}}

;Mogwai

• Stuart Braithwaite – guitar, vocals on "Cody"
• Dominic Aitchison – bass guitar
• Martin Bulloch – drums
• John Cummings – guitar
• Barry Burns – piano, keyboard, guitar, flute

;Additional musicians

• Richard Formby – lap steel guitar on "Cody"
• Luke Sutherland – violin
• Wayne Myers – trombone on "Punk Rock/Puff Daddy/ANʇICHRISʇ"
• Dave Fridmann – various instruments

;Production

• Dave Fridmann – production

{{Reflist}}

{{Discogs master|6404|Come On Die Young}}

{{Mogwai}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Mogwai albums

Category:1999 albums

Category:Albums produced by Dave Fridmann

Category:Chemikal Underground albums

Category:Albums recorded at Tarbox Road Studios