Uncle Dysfunktional
by Happy Mondays

Album details

US: IMPORT ONLY
UK: 2 July 2007 on Sequel

A little old to still be 24-hour party people, the Manchester band returns with its first album in 15 years, but only three original members crack the lineup: singer Shaun Ryder, drummer Gaz Whelan, and dancer / Big Brother contestant Bez. Will that be enough to start an old-rave trend?

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The critical consensus

"Perfectly decent" screams the BBC (ok, so maybe that’s not screaming), concluding that the album is not as bad as fans might have feared, but not stellar, either, adding, "Uncle Dysfunktional manages to stand proud next to the rest of the Mondays’ albums and even, on a couple of very unexpected occasions, produce the kind of tunes that made them the anti-legends they are." Similarly, MusicOMH declares the album far from classic status, but "a huge amount of fun" nevertheless, and "a terrific companion to the summer" while it lasts. Q notes that the band’s music "has never been tighter," Mojo says that it is "better than we’d any right to expect," and Uncut is surprised to find that it is "often pretty great."

Not every critic was that kind. The Independent longed for the dance-rock grooves of vintage Mondays, finding the new songs seeming "jerry-built and patched-up, lacking that once implacable heft and momentum." Hot Press found nothing good about the band’s reunion ("Please, please, please ignore this album"), with the exception of the first seconds of opening track "Jellybean" before Shaun Ryder opens his mouth. And Stylus simply calls it "the most pointless comeback ever." Even the critics that didn’t dismiss the album outright complained about the lyrics, although Ryder was never one to excel in that department. Speaking of speaking in tongues, NME’s scathing review (at least, we think the 7/10 posted on their website is very, very wrong) mentions something about how "most of the burbling that makes up this record is painful, like watching a Russian dancing bear in a wig crying at a foam party." Point taken. Maybe.

A wretched experience.

-Hot Press

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Jellybean
2. Angels And Whores
3. Deviants
4. Rats With Wings
5. Cuntry Disco
6. In The Blood
7. Anti Warhole On The Dancefloor
8. Rush Rush
9. Uncle Dysfunktional
10. Dr Dick
11. Weather

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• Happy Mondays @ MySpace