Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches...here's to the under-rated guitar player

Written by Dermot Watson on Thursday, 16 July 2009

This may seem slightly out of character for me, but bear with me. Pills’n’ Thrills one of the best Friday afternoon records ever. Feeling burdened by the shackles of job and responsibilities? This’ll sort ya, one listen and it all fades into the insubstantiality it deserves.

But, over and above that, I reckon that Mark Day (the Mondays’ guitarist, aka ‘Moose’), is one of the most overlooked players ever. Check out the simplicity of Loose Fit. Can you imagine anything else going there that could possibly be better? Who else would have thought of that line? Same holds true for Kinky Afro, Step On and Holiday. In fact, it’s all understated genius. He’ll never win a Guitar Player award, but I reckon he doesn’t give a monkey’s and is a better player for it.