on’t bother with these imitators. Check out the originals."

This nugget pops up time and again when looking for advice about what record to purchase. Frequently it is not useful, as the "imitators" often create a more enjoyable, contemporary take on the "original’s" work. Does it really matter who got there first? It’s who does it better that counts.

However, this piece of advice is very helpful when applied to Mogwai. Outspoken about the failings of other contemporary pop groups (they famously printed t-shirts bearing the legend “Blur: Are Shite”), the more excitable elements of the British music press took the Scottish instrumental rockers to their hearts when they burst onto the scene in 1997. Repeated playing of their first three albums would suggest that this hype was more due to their entertaining interviews, rather than the "excellence" of their music. Here was a band that was quite some way behind its inspirations.

So, who are the influences that Mogwai struggle to emulate? The one most commonly cited are early-90s post-rockers Slint, and perhaps rightly so. Mogwai’s soft/loud dynamics owe quite a lot to their 1991 masterpiece Spiderland, but never quite hitting the same heights of beauty and power. American slo-core trio Low are another important reference point, but Mogwai have yet to create anything as exquisitely sad as Low’s 1999 high watermark Secret Name. Their music remains merely pleasant, and nowhere near as earth-shattering as the press hullabaloo would suggest.

Mogwai’s debut Young Team was awash with white noise, but the band developed a more restrained, quiet sound on the two (largely instrumental) albums that followed (Come on Die Young and Rock Action). Happy Songs for Happy People continues the trend, and broadens the group’s scope considerably. There are electronic flourishes all over this record, alongside organs, cellos and pianos.

The first two tracks may well represent Mogwai’s best work to date. Opener "Hunted by a Freak" has a beautifully melancholic melody, nowhere near as dark as the title would suggest. One of the few tracks to feature vocals, Stuart Braithwaite’s voice is given a heavy, aquatic treatment, eventually buried under ripples of guitar and strings. It’s followed by the stand-out track "Moses? I Amn’t". Pitched somewhere between Aphex Twin’s "Selected Ambient Works Volume II" and the instrumental tracks on Mercury Rev’s "Deserter’s Songs", it’s a soothing organ-and cello melody you wouldn’t have thought they’d be capable of.

These two gems are followed by "Kids Will Be Skeletons." A pleasant instrumental number, built around a Spiritualized-style guitar and organ melody, it can’t quite keep the momentum set by the first two songs. "Killing All the Flies" features some trademark soft-to-loud crescendo building, and another underwater vocal treatment.

"Boring Machines Disturbs Sleep" is the only other track that matches the opening salvo. Mumbled vocals are buried deep in the mix, My Bloody Valentine-style, but this is a melody even Kevin Shields would be proud of. Wistful and dreamy, this one certainly won’t disturb sleep. On the contrary, it’s perfect music for nodding off to.

"Ratts of the Cable" is Mogwai at their most ferocious. It builds gradually towards a furious guitar-pummelling climax, but outstays its welcome somewhat at eight minutes-plus. The remainder of the album drifts by pleasantly enough: more MBV-style dream-pop on "Golden Porsche", some pleasing drum hiss on closer "Stop Coming to my House". Quite lovely in places.

Mogwai still have some way to go to prove that they are worthy of the fuss, but this album is a step in the right direction. There is enough evidence here to suggest that they become more than just unremarkable imitators, with a flair for amusing quotes.