Michael Allen and The Wolfgang Press (also Mark Cox and Andrew Gray)
have smoothed out much of their angst and made their newest package, "Funky
Little Demons," accessible at last to a wider range of listeners. The
songs "Going South" and "She's so Soft" have travelled even top-40
stations. Some early TWP fans are tending to discard "FLD" in
disappointment because it lacks the perverse anglo-agitation that they
carried even into the rather groovy 1992 album Queer. Certainly a Motown
70's affection rides through this most recent disc, but such elements of
soul have been with TWP since early on, as in their cover of Aretha
Franklin's "Respect" in 1985, or their characteristic percussion-heavy
tribal chants.
But of course, King of Soul, Mick, and the boys interpret funk in
their own fashion. Listening to "FLD" is like being at a fashionable
soiree, where dope of only utmost quality is exchanged. There is almost a
consistent pop synth beat running throughout the background of many of the
songs, especially in the cynically danceable "Christianity," the soothing
"Derek the Confessor" or the club-friendly "Executioner." Rather than
crash in upon the hearer in typical TWP style, this one oozes with groovy
instrumentation. Mick drones more melodically, more subdued (except in the
throbbing "So Long Dead," which is most like earlier tunes). He sings with
a gentle, yet sardonic authority, portraying himself as "a wicked man" and
affirming, "Charlie Manson said that everything is right/And Charlie Manson
knows."
The lyrical content of "FLD" is less subterranean in comparison with
other albums, but Mick Allen continues to show himself a gifted songwriter.
For those who can shimmy along to its cool causticness, "Funky Little
Demons" is bound to gratify.
