This one isn’t a classic in the mainstream sense, but it does qualify
as something of a cult classic for a certain generation …
Emotional Hooligan is often heralded as Gary Clail’s debut
album, but that fails to take into account a number of projects he’d previously
been involved with as part of the wider On-U Sound collective.
And if we’re
being honest, while Clail may take the credit as “the artist” in this instance,
all those familiar with the work of uber producer Adrian Sherwood will be well
aware of where the real art exists.
This album is an odd beast in that it is essentially the same
set of musicians who recorded the End Of The Century Party album a year or so
prior – at least the core of that collective, with dubmeister Sherwood at the
controls – yet this one was released on the Perfecto label (as opposed to
Sherwood’s On-U Sound vehicle) and curiously enough, this release was far more
successful from a commercial standpoint.
Again, it is Sherwood’s standard template to the fore – dub, roots
reggae, techno, funk, morsels of post-Punk, and Gary Clail “singing” (mostly
ranting) politically relevant lyrics over the bass heavy kaleidoscope of sound.
There’s a dance flavour to most of this work, with techno pioneer Paul
Oakenfold recruited to remix 12” versions of the singles ‘Beef’ and ‘Human
Nature’ (hear Oakenfold's mix in the clip below).
Emotional Hooligan was released around the time of the first
Gulf War and references to the Persian Gulf and Middle East tensions are
sprinkled throughout, George Bush Senior apparently fooling nobody in his quest
for oil and the steps he’d take to get it.
Other issues like poverty, racism, social injustice, and greed
are, as always, tackled head on, without fear nor compromise, and evidently
nobody was safe from scrutiny when it came to this politically savvy bunch.
Outside of the aforementioned singles, both of which are
outstanding, other highlights include the self-explanatory opening track,
‘Food, Clothes and Shelter’, which sets the tone of things to follow, plus
‘Escape’, and ‘Rumours’, while the closer, ‘False Leader’, which features
sampling from a Big Youth track, is my pick of a very consistent set.
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