Black Grape squeezes juice from alternative
In the early '90s, there was a band from Manchester, England, called the Happy Mondays that stormed the dance scene with their psychedelic-groove style and completely irreverent attitude.
When the Manchester scene crumbled, the Mondays got squashed and broke up, never once being able to enter the United States because of their extensive and laughable incidents with drug possession.
Flip to 1996 -- and see that two of the ex-members of the Happy Mondays have found themselves right in the thick of the music world again. With frontman Shaun Ryder again at the helm and the dancing fool, Fez, Black Grape has found unexpected success.
With a style that is completely their own, Black Grape is every bit an antidote to the now entirely too boring "I-hate-myself-please-buy-my-record" angst courtesy of Bush, Silverchair, Foo Fighters and other groups shamelessly basking in the light of the Taco Bell alternative dinner music promotion.
Sometimes Black Grape sounds as if Shaun Ryder and jester Fez had been recording after a good night's worth of smoking fat joint, but they never fail to have fun with their music, putting together a little rock, some reggae, rap and of course, their patented tripping psychedelia from the Manchester movement into all their songs.
Completely irreverent, all 10 tracks swim in an aura of exotic sounds and samples, sometimes predictable, but always colorful. Shaun Ryder's whispery vocals take on a preacher's stance at times, and the religous references are apparent throughout the album, though only through the viewpoint of the hedonistic Ryder.
In a time where musical artists have become entirely too serious and just a little too derivative, Black Grape has taken on the necessary honors of being court jester to the music world. Black Grape's music reflects an attitude of not giving a care in the world about being the best, but rather, just having a little fun and imbibing in some drugs in the process. Move over Silverchair and fellow Taco Bell bands, Black Grape is way cooler than you are.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the February 2, 1996 issue.
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