I am fascinated by the music that came out of the indie-alternatve-dance scenes in late 80s/early 90s Britain. From acid house by the likes of 808 State to the psychedelic guitar-based rock of the legendary Stone Roses, Manchester's "Madchester" scene made the city the ultimate party destination. The variety of sounds spun off into "baggy" music and spread throughout the country, while the parallel "grebo" scene developed and fizzled, causing many kids to adopt bad clothes and even worse haircuts for a couple of years.
EMF (or, Epsom Mad Funkers, contrary to not-so-popular belief) found themselves somewhere in between all of these sounds, churning out techno-influenced dance rock that brought them musical success in the early 90s with the release of their 1990 album, Schubert Dip. While all four singles from the album, a play on words relying on the similarities between Austrian early Romantic composer Franz Schubert and a certain dessert, charted in the UK and on the American rock charts, EMF is undoubtedly best known for their lead single. "Unbelievable" shot up to #1 on the Hot 100 charts, garnering them one-hit wonder status for future generations of TV commercial viewers.
This is yet another album I picked up for 25 cents, choosing it solely off the infectiousness of "Unbelievable," as I was unfamiliar with the rest of their work. Though I hadn't heard any of their other songs, I figured it wouldn't be too far removed from what every other guitar-synth-and-Madchester-dance-drumming band of the time sounded like. I popped it into my laptop and skipped straight to "Unbelievable," the main riff grabbing me and nodding my head back and forth just as I remembered. After the last "you're unbelievable" uttered by EMF frontman James Atkin, it went straight into the next track.
Though "Girl of an Age" starts out promisingly by sampling a Sesame Street conversation between Ernie and Bert, it's neither catchy nor driving enough to hold the attention that "Unbelievable" brought upon them. Lacking the charm of the prior song, it just sounds cheesy and outdated. Unfortunately, that fairly well describes most of the album.
Leadoff track "Children" starts the album off strongly enough before exploding into my favorite track "Long Summer Days," a driving song that sounds like a heavier, more ominous version of "Unbelievable." Segueing straight into the next song with a shared drum beat, the album hits a lull before picking up a little bit with the one-two bipolar combination of "I Believe" and "Unbelievable," then falling once more with the album's uneven back half.
Overall, Schubert Dip plays out just like one might expect: an album centered around a strong single, with the band trying to feel out the surrounding area, looking to recreate the magic of that infectious piano hook. They get close in a couple areas, but not quite. Accordingly, there isn't much variance in the sound from track to track, just the quality. Nevertheless, it's an album with a handful of decent tracks ("Long Summer Days" and "Unbelievable" really are great tracks) in between the muddled indie-dance filler, and it's one to check out if bands like Jesus Jones, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, or perhaps even Inspiral Carpets are your thing.
Tracks:
- Children
- Long Summer Days
- When You're Mine
- Travelling Not Running
- I Believe
- Unbelievable
- Girl of an Age
- Admit It
- Lies
- Longtime
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