Track Listing

1. Kuff Dam
2. Tart Tart
3. Enry
4. Russell
5. Olive Oil
6. Weekend 5
7. Little Matchstick Owen
8. Oasis
9. 24 Hour Party People
10. Cob 20

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50118 in Music
• Released on: 2000-01-04
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Portentous Debut
Squirrel & G-Man was the Monday's debut released on Manchester's Factory records in 1987. John Cale (Velvet Underground) is on production duties, presumably because of the Velvet's drug history going hand in hand with the Monday's renowned intake.

The album displays a crude funk reminiscent of post punk funksters such as Gang of Four and A Certain Ratio. Cale concentrates on developing the funk by bringing the drums and bass to the front. What sets this album apart is the Ryder brothers Paul & Shaun. Shaun's guttersniping one-liners are well known and deserve all the credit they get but older sibling Paul's bass lines make the record listenable.

A couple of tracks let the side down but Tart Tart is as good as anything they have produced since. Kuff Dam (spell it backwards) is an inspired choice as LP opener dragging the listener into the warped Mondays world paving the way for council estate tales and casual drug references.

More interesting work was to come from the Mondays but this remains a good buy and a hugely underrated if not flawed debut.

The best Mondays album!(seriously)
It seems everyone's been blinded by the immediate and obvious greatness of pills'n thrills,to the detriment of the only other true EPIC Mondays LP that is squirral and g-man.7 out of 10 of these tracks are absolute classics,easily on a par,if not beter in some cases than their pills'n thrills counterparts.Tart tart,olive oil,matchstick owen,and oasis are tight,funky,melodic,hilarious,uplifting monsters.Not to mention the widely received gems, 24hour party people and Kuff Dam.Energy is also a pre/post-going out anthem round my gaff.I defy anyone not to be elecrified into action after hearing energys rampant bass/drums intro,and insane 'spread your germ' refrain.Don't waste your time with any lo-fi Allstar coverbands(kasabian,the music) look no further than squirral/g-man.YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT

What a start
I actually discovered this album last out of all the Mondays stuff and found that i prefer it to Yes Please and possibly even Bummed (i cant make up my mind about that though!) which may shock some people. Every track though has a groove to it and it doesnt really waver from a simple formula of guitars/drum/bass over which Shaun Ryder adds his unique vocals. Tart Tart and 24 Hour Party People both featured in the film of the same name starring Steve Coogan and are two of the stand-out tracks. Its amazing to think this came out in 1986/87 ish a couple of years before the Madchester movement but even back there the group showed there was greatness ahead. Not the most widely heard of albums nor is it as good as Pills n' Thrills but you'll enjoy it nonetheless.