For some reason, most of the British post-punk element who embraced funk are quickly written off by the critics these days. There's exceptions, sure: both Leeds' GANG OF FOUR, whose taut, Politicised sound is as fiery and fresh today, or BRISTOL's POP GROUP who (for helping to pre-empt trip hop and for releasing seminal stuff like "She Is Beyond Good And Evil") are still held in high regard, but they're isolated examples.
Which is a great pity, because to write off the white boy funkateers would be to ignore the fascinating likes of Nottingham's MEDIUM MEDIUM, who, whilst less obviously political than most of their peers, still created eminently danceable, resonant material, yet still found time to support ROCK AGAINST RACISM and their ilk.
Cherry Red's "Hungry, So Angry" collects 15 tracks, including their debut single "Them Or Me" (1979), their one American hit in "Hungry, So Angry" itself, tracks from their one official album, "The Glitterhouse" (1981), the 1982 "Splendid Isolation" and a smattering of live tracks from European shows.
Musically, MEDIUM MEDIUM were purveyors of a sweaty, loose-limbed funk-pop sound; considerably less knotty and irritating than THE POP GROUP, but more commercial than, say, A CERTAIN RATIO (MEDIUM MEDIUM supported them on occasion), whose scratchy funk sound circa "Knife Slits Water" is not a million miles away from things like "Splendid Isolation."
To be fair, some of this misfires. With the exception of the moody "Praying", which benefits from Graham Spink's "special noises" most of the tracks minus original frontman/ squawky sax player John Lewis are to smooth and lacking incision. Also, however you slice it, covering CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD's "(You've Got Me) Dangling On A String" seems an ill-advised move.
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Nonethelss, the original band with Lewis at the helm could kick up a mighty thunder. "Hungry, So Angry" itself remains every bit as supercharged, and while MEDIUM MEDIUM's lyrics were broadly personal rather than polemic, this track is as potent as prime era GANG OF FOUR. Also, as the sleeve notes suggest, woudn't it be great to reference this tune as a positive example of the popping, rubber-thumbed bass style later hijacked and bastardised by twats like Mark King?
There's more, too. The high-octane harmonies of the "CLOCKWORK ORANGE"- influenced "Nadsat Dream" and percussive pulses of the (live) "Serbian Village" ensure they're both stand outs. When Lewis yelps "lost...in the woods...in the distance" on this latter it's genuinely disturbing, especially related to activities in the Balkans over the last 10 tears or so.
Topped and tailed by the eerie, Mickey Finn psychosis of "The Glitterhouse" and the enhanced rare promo film of the title track, "Hungry, So Angry" is the kind of uncompromising retrospective you'd expect from a band hailing from a city specialising in individualistic talent like TINDERSTICKS and SIX BY SEVEN.
Two decades on, you'd be pushed to describe MEDIUM MEDIUM as seminal in the GANG OF FOUR sense, but they're also far too good to be dismissed as also rans either.
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