Wikipedia

Funky Little Demons

Funky Little Demons is the fifth and final studio album by the English band the Wolfgang Press, released in 1995.[3][4]

Funky Little Demons
Studio album by
the Wolfgang Press
Released1995
Length47:51[1]
Label4AD[2]
ProducerDrostan Madden
The Wolfgang Press chronology
Queer
(1991) 		Funky Little Demons
(1995) 		Everything Is Beautiful (A Retrospective 1983-1995)
(2001)

The album peaked at No. 75 on the UK Albums Chart.[5] The first single was "Going South".[6] The band supported the album by touring North America with Suddenly, Tammy![7][8]

Production edit

The album was produced by Drostan Madden. It was recorded in the band's own studio, although founding member Mark Cox was often not present for sessions.[9]

The band split the album between songs that were written in a standard verse-chorus manner, and those that were built out of musical soundscapes.[10] "11 Years" is an autobiographical song; "New Glass" is an instrumental track.[11][12]

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [13]
Calgary HeraldB−[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [15]
Knoxville News Sentinel     [11]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide     [16]
The Record    [1]
The Tampa Tribune    [6]

Trouser Press wrote: "No longer enigmatic risk-takers, the Wolfgang Press have become just another white post-new wave soul band."[17] The Guardian thought that the album "contains enough elements from pop's more melodic spectrum to lift them squarely out of their old art-terrorism mode."[18] The Calgary Herald deemed it "funky without tryin'," likening it to "Joy Division goes uptown."[14]

The Irish Times determined that Funky Little Demons "sees the Wolfies change from dark, brooding neo industrialists to bright, ironic soul popsters."[19] The Ottawa Citizen stated that "Going South" "is positively contagious, resonating with gravelly lead vocals, piercing slide work and soul-touching background singers."[20] The New York Times noted that Wolfgang Press "has been letting its pop float to the surface of its dirges, ending up with a stylized soul music that sounds like a chunkier version of Roxy Music."[21] Joyce Jones, of The Washington Post, listed the album among the 10 best of 1995, writing that Allen "exudes a cantankerous charm, coming off like Nick Cave on Soul Train."[22]

AllMusic wrote that "the album is neither particularly funky nor at all demonic, and in these tamer surroundings, Michael Allen's formerly compelling baritone murmur sounds kind of mannered and pretentious."[13]

Track listing edit

No.TitleLength
1."Going South" 
2."11 Years" 
3."Blood Satisfaction" 
4."Chains" 
5."Christianity" 
6."Derek the Confessor" 
7."So Long Dead" 
8."Executioner" 
9."She's So Soft" 
10."New Glass" 
11."Fallen Not Broken" 
12."People Say" 

References edit

  1. ^ a b Jaeger, Barbara (March 5, 1995). "Perfect Picks, One and All". The Record. p. E4.
  2. ^ Jarman, David (Jan 1995). "Best New Music". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 17. p. 12.
  3. ^ Buckley, Peter (April 10, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050.
  4. ^ Manning, Sarra (Jan 21, 1995). "Albums — Funky Little Demons by the Wolfgang Press". Melody Maker. Vol. 72, no. 3. p. 32.
  5. ^ "Wolfgang Press Full Official Chart History". Official Charts.
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Rommie (February 10, 1995). "The Wolfgang Press, Funky Little Demons". Friday Extra!. The Tampa Tribune. p. 21.
  7. ^ Dickinson, Chris (19 May 1995). "Wolfgang Press, Suddenly Tammy!, Sunday at Metro". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. T.
  8. ^ Sherr, Sara (19 May 1995). "Wolfgang Press/Peter Himmelman". Features Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 17.
  9. ^ Punter, Jennie (15 May 1995). "U.K. band switches dynamic". Toronto Star. p. E5.
  10. ^ Darling, Cary (April 28, 1995). "A dour Press sees the light". Orange County Register. p. P49.
  11. ^ a b Campbell, Chuck (10 Feb 1995). "British group presses ahead with 'Demons'". Detours. Knoxville News Sentinel. p. 3.
  12. ^ Morgan, Kendall (February 19, 1995). "The Wolfgang Press Funky Little Demons". The Dallas Morning News. p. 8C.
  13. ^ a b "Funky Little Demons". AllMusic.
  14. ^ a b McEwen, Mary-Lynn (29 Jan 1995). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald. p. E2.
  15. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 749.
  16. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. pp. 1241–1242.
  17. ^ "Wolfgang Press". Trouser Press. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  18. ^ Chiswick, Linton (11 Jan 1995). "Pop: The Wolfgang Press Jazz Cafe". The Guardian Foreign Page. The Guardian. p. 11.
  19. ^ Courtney, Kevin (20 Jan 1995). "The Wolfgang Press: 'Funky Little Demons'". Sound & Vision. The Irish Times. p. 13.
  20. ^ Saxberg, Lynn (21 Jan 1995). "The Wolfgang Press Funky Little Demons". Ottawa Citizen. p. D3.
  21. ^ Strauss, Neil (22 May 1995). "Rock on a Spring Evening to Please All the Pessimists". The New York Times. p. C13.
  22. ^ Jones, Joyce (29 Dec 1995). "Best of '95". The Washington Post. p. N7.
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