As a companion release to the album Rave Tapes, Mogwai’s Music Industry 3 Fitness Industry 1 EP doesn’t fall far from the parent album tree. With three unreleased songs and three remixes, it’s not so much of an extension of their latest long-player as it is a way to color in the gaps between the Scottish (mostly) instrumental band’s old sound and their new sound.
“Teenage Exorcist” is the one track that stands out, giving the EP a misleading start with swirling guitars and shoegaze-level vocals that intone an “apology accepted”. There are plenty of past Mogwai releases that could have housed “History Day” and “HMP Shaun William Ryder”. And the three remixes from Rave Tapes will be of no great shock to anybody since Rave Tapes already found the band moving in a slight electro direction anyway. Labelmates Blanck Mass take a crack at the ever memorable “Remurdered”, turning it into “Re-Remurdered”. I prefer the way it sounded the first time, but what am I going to do? Complain? This is Mogwai we’re talking about — they’ve probably already moved on to the next thing.