When you listen to the sardonic, whip-smart, and perennially ornery UK band Mclusky, you get a certain impression of the type of person that must be behind it all. Frontman and founder Andrew Falkous was just home from having seen his daughter perform at a choir recital when he got on the phone, and he immediately satisfied every expectation you might have of the man. How was the recital?

“It was lovely but, like the British class system in general, fundamentally flawed,” says Falkous. “It was basically watching my daughter, from her school, sing alongside the college youth, meaning rich people. You get to really enjoy the experience of being with your daughter, experience these beautiful moments where songs you don’t really like flood around a church, and you get to think about your family and love and death. But then, you also get to think about capitalism and how it should all burn, all in the same moment.”

For those unaware, Mclusky is a band that dabbles in post-hardcore, jagged punk, and noise-rock, and they deprived the world of their sound after calling it quits in 2005, after releasing three albums. Being uncharacteristically mum about the reasons for the breakup, all we know is the group has been reformed and they put out their first LP in over 20 years last May, titled The World Is Still Here and So Are We. Just this past week, they released an EP called I Sure Am Getting Sick of This Bowling Alley.

Mclusky’s I Sure Am Tired of This Bowling Alley.

Photo courtesy of Mclusky / Bandcamp

Both albums are far from the nostalgic cash grabs that everyone dreads when they hear that a band is getting back together. And, if you’re the type of person who thinks that the Pixies’ Come On Pilgrim is a better distillation of the Pixies sound than Surfer Rosa, you might be on our wavelength when we say that I Sure Am Getting Sick of This Bowling Alley somehow tops The World Is Still Here and So Are We. 

Raging, angular guitars permeate both, and Falkous’ interchangeably frantic and deadpan vocals remain as sharply honed as ever. But, I Sure Am Getting Sick’s surprisingly gentle closer, “that was my brain on elves,” is a glimpse at the further refinement of the restless singer-songwriter that Falkous has turned out to be.

The EP’s catchiest song, “as a dad,” takes the piss out of men whose basic human decency seems to hang completely on whether or not a woman is genetically linked to them.

“‘As a dad, I don’t believe in sexual assault anymore,’” Falkous says as an example. “Well, congratulations to you. What do you want, a slap on the back? … When you become a parent a bit later in life, as I have, it maybe makes you grow up in ways you should’ve done when you were younger. But, it kinda just sets in stone the path that you were already on, I think. It shouldn’t change your perspective, but it gives you a more compelling, extra reason to care.”

When asked about his feelings touring the U.S., Falkous says that the sights are a bit of a mixed bag.

“One thing that really struck us, in late ‘22, when we were on the West Coast, from L.A. up to Vancouver, the levels of homelessness were way beyond anything I could recall,” Falkous says. “Between our hotel, in San Francisco, and the venue… It’s like walking through the camp of a defeated army in the Middle Ages. That is astonishing.

“I’m not saying this to be a kiss-ass or whatever, but our crowd in America is probably our most urbane, multicultural and, for want of a better word—because, frankly, giving too many compliments sickens me—educated,” Falkous continues. “I just don’t think you see division any clearer than you do in America.”

In case it isn’t clear from the title The World Is Still Here and So Are We, Mclusky may be a curmudgeonly band, but they are not without hope. Listening to the roar of their music does not fill one with despair or pathological cynicism, but with humor, indignation, and energy. Watching the recent events in Minneapolis, for instance, Falkous empathized with what he saw as the best and worst of humanity on display. While Mclusky may have been on the sidelines for 20 years, they’re back to soundtrack our battles, once again.

Mclusky performs Thursday, March 26, doors at 7 p.m. at the Crocodile, Belltown. Find tickets here.