MUSIC REVIEW . The Wolfgang Press . Everything is Beautiful

by Kris   ⋅   October 18, 2005   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

Michael Allen, singer Wolfgang Press: “Right place right time, from Soul Boy to Punk in one seamless movement… The arrogance of youth is a wonderful thing and belief is everything. To say the answer to all of my inner turmoil and sense of isolation was found down a dingy cellar on Oxford Street in the form of one group who couldn’t play or sing maybe seems a little hard to comprehend. But if you were there you’d know, if you were there you’d know.”

I was there.. sort of. Like some people (unfortunately noone I know), I tripped in front of the whole Madchester Happy House freight train, but had no outlet for this (then) brand new scene. Too young to become a club kid, too old to ignore the psychedelic inspirations and often raunchy themes, I toted the Soup Dragons, Inspiral Carpets, Happy Mondays, much to the dismay of friends and Smiths’ stricken boyfriends. I thought it was so easy to be enamored by the infectious beat-happy: The Shamen, 808 State, Pop Will Eat Itself, XTC and The Wolfgang Press. Of course, for better or worse, time shifts and trends clear (with the revelation of what a prick Shaun Ryder was) but my attachment to The Wolfgang Press has only sweetened with age. I’m offering another compendium, their Everything is Beautiful (a Retrospective 1983-1995) , an album which ignores their 1983 debut The Burden of Mules, in fact the earliest dredging is from a 1984 EP. Rather than be offended, I believe it’s a good introduction for curious noobs, as it circumscribes their easily palatable “danceable” history.

The tracks chosen for Everything is Beautiful rely on arrhythmic drums of course, where the sticks skip on a half beat indicative of the House genre, but infuses that franticism with dramatic sustained chords, a jive swung tone and Michael Allen’s throaty bass. Going South even adds grandiose cowboy twangs and swells. Their revamp of Three Dog Night’s (Randy Newman written) Mama Told Me Not to Come should be number one on the “remakes that surpass the original” list. Track 13 is an eclectic cover of Aretha Franklin’s (Otis Redding written) Respect that features Allen doing uncharacteristic drunken prepubescent yelps and sounding remarkably like Sugarcube’s Einar Örn (no, that’s not a good thing). Imagine it’s your worst karaoke experience, but it’s with an old friend so you’d probably find it endearing and hilarious. It isn’t the only song on the album where Allen ventures into this vocal range, but he’s usually in the Lou Rawls’ area. The track also pairs Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser backups and jovial brass toots for over-the-top obscurity.

Of course in the mid-to-late 80s, audiophiles were bombarded with lyrics rife with strife. Everything is Beautiful climbs up onto its soapbox to challenge organized religion and politics. According to Allen, Wolfgang Press were “three like-minded individuals joined together in an honourable crusade to fight the good fight and offer an alternative to the fodder that was being force fed to the masses by the likes of Radio One and Top Of The Pops.” Track 9, aptly named Sucker, is a dedicated ‘dis to then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Chains’ laments are overrun with personal weight: ”I have wandered and I have found no reason that I can understand/ Why all these boundaries return to where I am/ So please break them/ Make them break down into – Chains”.

Unlike most successful bands, The Wolfgang Press had no discernable falter during their evolution, at least none I can distinguish. (And I’m not being biased, because I’m most critical of things I love). Their consistent tricked out mixes aren’t as bland or blasé as other beat-driven drivel. It sounds completely natural, but in actuality, they weren’t always so bubbly. In the early 80s Wolfgang Press was hailed as “post-punk” and even “goth/industrial” innovators, but when they got their mitts on De La Soul’s Three Feet High and Rising, like many many musicians, they changed their tune, literally. They said it was that moment when they “rediscovered that music could indeed be fun”. “Fun” also included touring with Tom Jones and allowing him to cover a few of their songs. It is perhaps this surreal “truth is stranger than fiction” amalgamation that adds to their overall appeal. Another appealing reason is their modesty. Quoting Allen’s EiB liner notes: ”[the] search for a new way of making music was an endless one, but we stuck to our task for we knew one day our efforts would be rewarded. Unambitious for fame or god-like status we remained to the last a low profile outfit and with hindsight glad of it. Success, they say, is a personal thing.” I’m sure glad they decided to share their personal success with us.

About the Author:

Kris Kobayashi-Nelson will listen to anything once. Her favorites include Cocteau Twins, Cardigans, Mixel Pixel, Deerhoof, Fiona Apple, Portishead, Sneakerpimps, Sonny Rollins, the Pixies, Autechre… but she has been known to groove to footfalls through November leaves, zipper pulls in the dryer, or ice clinking in a Summer glass.