CD Odyssey Disc 416: Black Grape

The weekend that was so idyllic is now over too soon, and Monday has returned.  At least it is a Happy Monday – and everyone knows that a Happy Monday leads to a Black Grape – or at least it does as far as this next review is concerned.

Disc 416 is…Stupid Stupid Stupid

Artist: Black Grape

Year of Release: 1997

What’s up with the Cover?  A close up of a golliwog, which is a late 19^th century/early twentieth century doll that continues to evoke considerable racial controversy.  Fortunately, we’ve come a long way since then, and the golliwog is no longer considered an appropriate toy.  I expect its racially-charged history is exactly why Black Grape chose it for their cover.  My version of the CD is the original release, where the jewel case has two ‘googly eyes’ glued to it, which no doubt makes it more interesting to a collector, but also makes it hard to fit neatly on my CD shelf.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Nick is from Manchester, and has long known and loved the Manchester music scene and its many offshoots.  Black Grape is one of those offshoots, being two parts of the Happy Mondays (Shaun Ryder and Bez).

How It Stacks Up:  I have just this one Black Grape album, but if I compare it to my one Happy Mondays album (reviewed back at Disc 317), I’ll give it to the Happy Mondays by a hair, although both my friends who have them both tend to rank them the other way around.

Rating:  3 stars

It’s fitting that “Stupid Stupid Stupid” came out the same year as Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping”although terribly unfair that it received such comparatively little fanfare.

“Tubthumping” is an average dance album that tries to be clever and socially relevant and fails on both fronts.  “Stupid Stupid Stupid” is an example of how to do the clever dance album right, and step one is keep your subject matter to what makes sense to  drunk and drug-addled club goers.

Sure, “Stupid Stupid Stupid” makes a few forays into serious topics, poking such obvious targets as the disposable nature of modern culture in “Money Back Guaranteed” but even when they go such places, Black Grape approach the topic with more of a carnival atmosphere than anything resembling serious commentary.

The best example of this (and one of the album’s ‘high’ points, if you will) is “Get Higher” a song that lays down a funky beat and cuts in dialogue of George Bush and Ronald Reagan that has been rearranged out of order and context, so that their anti-drug message is reversed.  Are they poking fun at these politicians?  Most likely – but the emphasis seems to be on the fun of sending up a public figure, not the politics behind it.

The music is similar to the Happy Mondays, who I categorized as “Stoner Pop Phunck” when I reviewed them.  If anything, Black Grape is a couple steps closer to funk, and a couple away from pop (equal parts stoner, though).  They have the occasional rock guitar riff buried in the mix as well.  I liked the combination, and I admired the clever construction of the songs, which are not much more than a group of very basic riffs on different instruments, mixed together to make pretty complex sounds.  Remember, classical composers did basically the same thing.

“Squeaky” is probably the album at its best, with a half rock/half funk rock guitar that with a bit more reverb, wouldn’t be out of place on a Soundgarden album, except it is mixed up with a whole lot of weird sound effects, squawk boxes, and Indian rap (I think).

Subject wise, “Squeaky” won’t be in line for essay of the week with chorus lines including “I wanna get freaky with you.” It isn’t exactly lofty prose, but the song is so catchy you don’t really care that they aren’t saying anything more interesting.  In a nutshell, it’s dance music, and it’s good dance music without pretension to be something bigger than it is.

While there were a few stand outs, and the band’s talent is unmistakable, I didn’t often feel emotionally moved.  I had a good time, mind you – the music tended to put a swing in my step when I was walking to and from work, and it was a good groove to drive to as well.  I don’t know if it is music to just sit and listen to for an extended period, though.  The songs tend to not really go anywhere either narratively or musically, which made it hard to pay attention.

Also irksome, the song listings on the back of the CD case are arranged in a haphazard fashion making them hard to read, and impossible to tell what order they go in.  The band exacerbates the problem by naming tracks obscure things that don’t match up well with particular lyrics.  I’ll never figure out why artists want to make it difficult for the audience to follow along.  It’s not creative, it’s just self-absorbed.

I still had a good time, though, and I’ll keep putting this album on from time to time – likely as part of a shuffle with other artists, where I think it is better suited.  I just can’t bump these guys beyond a solid three on the CD Odyssey ratings scale.

Best tracks:  Get Higher, Squeaky, Dadi was a Badi