Mclusky’s Explosive Comeback: First Album in 20 Years, Plus a Must-Watch New Video!

After spending two decades on various side projects and intermittent reunions, the highly acclaimed Welsh rock group Mclusky has released a new album, their first in 20 years. Titled The World Is Still Here and So Are We, the album is set for release on May 9 through Ipecac. The album features a track called “Way of the Exploding Dickhead,” which you can listen to below. Accompanying the song is a video directed by Remy Lamont, packed with satirical depictions of self-improvement.

Andrew Falkous explains the track’s title, saying it is influenced by a classic video game (The Way of the Exploding Fist for the ZX Spectrum) and the lyrics reflect the heightened frenzy when ticket prices soar to see a band perform from afar. He describes “Way of the Exploding Dickhead” as a contemporary tale stripped of any moral lesson.

The band’s current formation features Falkous, with Jack Egglestone on drums since 2003, and bassist Damien Sayell, who has been part of the band’s lineup during their sporadic reunions. The press release mentions that “Way of the Exploding Dickhead” is part of a double-sided single that also includes “Unpopular Parts of a Pig” and “The Digger You Deep,” both released in another dual single in 2023. All three songs are included in the upcoming album.

The previous album marking the end of Mclusky’s initial phase was 2004’s The Difference Between Me and You Is That I’m Not on Fire. Post-split, they released a major compilation, Mcluskyism, and Falkous shifted focus to other influential projects including Future of the Left. Throughout the years, the influence of Falkous expanded across British rock, post-hardcore, and postpunk genres. Occasionally, he and various band members would perform under modified versions of the Mclusky name, such as Mclusky* and ‘Mclusky’. Their 2023 single marked their first release in 19 years, and now they have decided to launch a full album. The press release, likely penned by Falkous, humorously notes the use of an asterisk in the band’s name was initially “out of respect for past band members and the cherished memories of teenage musical obsessions—but to hell with it, all in.”

The World Is Still Here and So Are We:

01 Unpopular Parts of a Pig
02 Cops and Coppers
03 Way of the Exploding Dickhead
04 The Battle of Los Angelsea
05 People Person
06 The Competent Horse Thief
07 Kafka-Esque Novelist Franz Kafka
08 The Digger You Deep
09 Autofocus on the Prime Directive
10 Not All Steeplejacks
11 Chekhov’s Guns
12 Juan Party-System
13 Hate the Polis