Album Review

Happy Mondays – Jellybean

• 14th Jul 2007

You might want to check the skies, because it appears the pigs are indeed flying!

The Happy Mondays are back to twist your melon man. Given the amount of water under the bridge over the years, the likelihood of the Mancunian pioneers making a comeback seemed distant, even after Bez’s admittedly brilliant stint on Big Brother.

The sound’s a little mellower, a little more reliant on guitars and on stage Shaun looks a little like your uncle getting up to do karaoke at your third cousin’s wedding. But wait for the shock to subside. Yes, Bez looks gaunt, and a hollower version of his previous elasticated self, but at the heart of it all they’re still their same, give-a-shit, uncompromising selves.

It’s like they’ve never been away.

It has to be said though that the radio unfriendly version of the track is much more fun – what could be more ironic than a sanitised Happy Mondays?

A welcome facet to the music is the fact that Shaun’s matured vocally, and this is going to sound odd, but he strikes the same kind of chord that Roger Waters hit with his occasional vocal work on Pink Floyd tracks.

What’s that I hear you cry? Comparing a bunch of Northern wasters to Waters?

Why the hell not?

They’re no wasters – this is the sound of a new Manchester rising from the sticky mess of old(ham).

Happy Mondays were always one of a kind and ‘Jellybean’ simply reinforces the fact that, despite predictions from glowering Southerners, the band has staying power and an allure that’s as strong now as it was when they sucked the spirit of The Smiths through yellowed teeth and spat out a whole new genre of music for the people of Manchester….Oh…yes, the rest of you are invited to the party too.

Welcome back!