''Funky Little Demons'' is the fifth and final studio album by the English band

the Wolfgang Press The Wolfgang Press was an English post-punk band, active from 1983 to 1995, recording for the 4AD label. The core of the band was Michael Allen (vocals, bass), Mark Cox (keyboards), and Andrew Gray (guitar). The group is best known for its 1 ...

, released in 1995. The album peaked at No. 75 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. The first single was "Going South". The band supported the album by touring North America with Suddenly, Tammy!

Production

The album was produced by Drostan Madden. It was recorded in the band's own studio, although founding member Mark Cox was often not present for sessions. The band split the album between songs that were written in a standard verse-chorus manner, and those that were built out of musical soundscapes. "11 Years" is an autobiographical song; "New Glass" is an instrumental track.

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote: "No longer enigmatic risk-takers, the Wolfgang Press have become just another white post-new wave soul band." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' thought that the album "contains enough elements from pop's more melodic spectrum to lift them squarely out of their old art-terrorism mode." The '' Calgary Herald'' deemed it "funky without tryin'," likening it to "Joy Division goes uptown." ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' determined that ''Funky Little Demons'' "sees the Wolfies change from dark, brooding neo industrialists to bright, ironic soul popsters." The ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The new ...

'' stated that "Going South" "is positively contagious, resonating with gravelly lead vocals, piercing slide work and soul-touching background singers." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' noted that Wolfgang Press "has been letting its pop float to the surface of its dirges, ending up with a stylized soul music that sounds like a chunkier version of Roxy Music."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

wrote that "the album is neither particularly funky nor at all demonic, and in these tamer surroundings, Michael Allen's formerly compelling baritone murmur sounds kind of mannered and pretentious." Joyce Jones, of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', listed the album among the 10 best of 1995, writing that Allen "exudes a cantankerous charm, coming off like Nick Cave on ''Soul Train''."

Track listing

References

{{authority control The Wolfgang Press albums 1995 albums 4AD albums