As I write this, approximately a year in advance of publication, it’s been about a week since the death of bass player Gary “Mani” Mounfield, so it’s quite sad to get to this album at this point. The album to me feels so quintessentially Nineties that it’s strange to discover it’s actually the tail-end of the Eighties. Just the sight of that Jackson Pollock-plus-lemons cover took me back to a particular time and place. This is arguably a defining moment in the Madchester sound, which splits into two strands – the more dance-based, tending towards techno, upon which axis currently sit The Happy Mondays and New Order, and the more indie-rock. This album pretty much straddles the divide like a basal ancestor, especially when you factor in the never-ending funky groove of Fool’s Gold (a bonus track on some editions).
Thus you’ve got John Squire’s psychedelic guitar wanderings, you’ve got Ian Brown’s head-voice vocals echoing the harmonies of CSNY, but you’ve also got Mani delivering wandering basslines and Alan “Reni” Wren laying down funky drum patterns or psychedelia bongos.
Yes, okay, Don’t Stop is basically the preceding track Waterfall in reverse to give a slightly Sergeant Pepper feel to things, and Elizabeth My Dear is a bit of a throwaway Scarborough Fair rip-off (with anti-monarchy sentiments), but the other tracks, although they all share a common kind of sound (and a general misanthropy to the lyrics), are each unique enough to stand out.
The late Sixties are clearly plundered but mixed together and brought up to date. The influence of producer John Leckie, who worked with XTC on their Dukes Of Stratosphear album (see my upcoming bonus round) is part of why much of this sounds like some classic psychedelia. The Stone Roses can’t be blamed for spawning a whole raft of pretenders in the “baggy” movement any more than The Byrds can be blamed for inferior jangle-pop. This formed the soundtrack to my undergraduate days, among an eclectic range of other albums, and it was good to revisit it again after a long absence. And that lengthy outro to I Am The Resurrection still slays.
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