Construction for the Modern Idiot by The Wonderstuff

Construction for the Modern Idiot, the Wonder Stuff's fourth album, came out on Polydor in October 1993, and nobody knew it yet but it was the Stourbridge band's parting shot: they split on 15 July 1994, bowing out as headliners of the Phoenix Festival. Miles Hunt, whose songs had always driven the band, fronts a lineup of Malcolm Treece on guitar, Paul Clifford on bass, Martin Gilks on drums and Martin Bell on violin.

It's a big, bright, bruised pop record, Bell's fiddle sawing through the jangle and Hunt as sharp-tongued as ever. It went to No. 4 in the UK and threw off three hit singles: "On the Ropes (EP)", "Hot Love Now" and "Full of Life (Happy Now)". The album is dedicated to Rob Jones, the original bassist known as The Bass Thing, who died of a heart attack in New York not long after leaving the band.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.