release date: Sep. 1985
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,17]
producer: Mike Pickering
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK
3-track ep debut by Happy Mondays is the band's first release after being put on contract by Factory Records. Producer Mike Pickering worked as a DJ at The Haçienda dance and nightclub in Manchester, and he saw the band's potential after having listened to a demo-tape by the band, who at this point toured with New Order. Already then, Happy Mondays is a stable sextet consisting of the Ryder brothers: singer and guitarist Shaun and bassist Paul together with lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, drummer Gary Whelan, and with new member dancer Bez (aka Mark Berry).
Musically, it's not yet the baggy / madchester-style they should later be associated with. Instead, they play dance-friendly indie pop with bold stylistic elements from jangle pop. The ep has also been recognised as "The Delightful ep" with its title referring to the first and also easily best track of the release. Also, in retrospect, Shaun Ryder has described this as a first experience, which he thought was a bit off in respect to what they were aiming at as it resulted in a sound without the dance-vibe they had wanted, and partly because Pickering simply didn't know that, and also because the band were still trying to find their ground. At the same time, Ryder was still influenced by other vocalists, partly leaning towards Ian Curtis, Feargal Sharkey and other strong performers and not yet had found his personal style. You could add that the band simply lacked a musical direction - should we play more like Joy Division / New Order, Orange Juice, or some other new act? Questions that basically revealed that they were not mature enough to hit it off.
