#580 The Happy Mondays - Bummed

Preceding even The Stone Roses as Madchester greatgrandaddies, these guys similarly truck in poppy, happy, more dancable synthy post-punk. The sound is cleaner than on The Stone Roses' album, a little less full-on shoegaze, a little more Gang of Four / The Fall angular, with a detached cool that makes the whole thing sound like more than it is. Frustrated and fun, underground youth music from an era bygone 3/5