The Wolfgang Press
‘None of us are very good musicians and I think that helps a lot’. Despite a reputation as 4AD Records' longest-serving glacial UK post-punk outfit, such generic descriptions hardly embrace the width of the Wolfgang Press' songwriting arsenal. Comprising Andrew Gray (guitar), Mark Cox (keyboards) and Mick Allen (vocals), they took more responsibility for their packaging and image than many of their label's fellow travellers, producing an intriguing range of records, covers and videos. Their recorded fare, however, continued to be imaginative but insubstantial. Support slots on tours with the Pixies and Nick Cave had given the band a higher profile in Europe and the USA than they enjoyed domestically by the close of the '80s, where their sound collages were viewed as too eclectic to fit any particular strain of modern ‘indie’ music. Following several albums of edgy, fragmented pop sounds, they began the next decdade with a plunge into the dance market, primarily inspired by De La Soul's THREE FEET HIGH AND RISING. QUEER won many favourable reviews, and was a successful accomodation of new musical innovations. So too 1995's FUNKY LITTLE DEMONS, though this wide-ranging collection of songs was not the result of inflated art school egos, Allen commenting: ‘You could see music as being magical but it's more like a lot of hard work, not far removed from building a house.’ Whatever they have served as architects of, the Wolfgang Press have grown significantly in ability as the years have passed.