90's Guilty Pleasures: #60 Jesus Jones "Right Here Right Now" (1991) / EMF "Unbelievable" (1991)

What subgenre was this again? Wait, don't tell me, I totally know this one... Oh yeah, I think it was called Mad-Chester or something. Because the bands were from Manchester, England, and they were "mad" for some reason.. "Mad" meaning "crazy," of course (as opposed to "angry"). The 2 most critically revered bands of this style were The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses. I was never a fan of either of these bands, with the exception of their biggest songs ("Step On," "Fools Gold," "I Wanna Be Adored"). I'd say the same goes for Jesus Jones and EMF, the only 2 Madchester-related bands who had any impact at all in the US charts. Few music fans outside of the UK would care to debate that this was clearly a singles-based genre.

For either side of the Atlantic, "Right Here Right Now" seemed to sum up early 1991 fairly well. Somehow it seemed like cultural revolution was closeby, and by coincidence only months later, this turned out to be a correct assumption. Sonically, "Unbelievable" contained the same style and message, except fueled by far more ecstacy rolling.

"Right Here Right Now"


"Unbelievable"