With the demise of Happy Mondays and the stoned innocence of the 'Madchester' scene in the late '80s/early '90s, vocalist Shaun Ryder was left with one helluva hangover and a need for an outlet for his individual brand of strung-out street poetry. With Black Grape, he's found a harder, darker forum for his freewheeling rants. On STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, he shares vocal tasks with Carl "Psycho" McCarthy and Paul "Kermit" Leveridge, who contribute raps and rapid-fire Jamaican toasting to trade off with Ryder's thickly-accented drug references.
STUPID STUPID STUPID finds Ryder soldiering on in typical hedonistic fashion; sex and drugs are high on the lyrical agenda. The album opens with "Get Higher" which splices portions of Ron & Nancy Reagan's anti-drug speeches into confessions of copious narcotic consumption, and all over a wild, club-ready background. The heavy bass throb and distorted vocals of "Dadi Waz A Badi" display Black Grape's ominous side, while "Rubber Band" is distinctively bright, with trumpets, vocoder and, at center stage, Shaun Ryder, the sprightliest, most endearing beer slob you'll ever fall in love with.