That ain’t the way to have fun, son

When The Wolfgang Press dropped their album Queer in 1991 it surprised the hell out of me (and a lot of other people.) The thunderous gothic vocals and dense sounds were replaced by slinky dance tunes and an ear for the charts. Most of the 4AD groupies who had praised their every note were now trashing them and branding them as “commercial bastards.” I had never really loved their early work so I could care less if my black-clad, clove-smoking pals were disgusted by it. In fact, one practically gave me her copy of Queer AND the EP for “A Girl Like You” for almost nothing in exchange. I almost got her to throw in a Lush EP as well because they were starting to sound poppy too. I couldn’t sweet-talk her out of it but was more than happy with my take.

As the years have gone by I find myself only going back to the tracks “Sucker” and “Mama Told Me Not To Come.” The latter being a great Randy Newman cover that still sounds great. The darkly humorous tone of the song gets a boost by Michael Allen’s deep vocals and the kitchen-sink percussion echoing the mood of a party gone to the edge (but not yet gone bad.) The album version is good but the “Up All Night Version” from the song’s EP is my favorite. It’s a touch longer, throws in a few more sound effects and doesn’t lose any of the benefits of the original. Tasty stuff.

PLAY:

DOWNLOAD: Wolfgang Press - Mama Told Me Not To Come (Up All Night)