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Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com ‘Depressed Beyond Tablets’, (nice BrassEye reference), which contains the wonderful lines: Your optimism strikes me like junk-mail addressed to the dead Depressed beyond tablets I’ve gone beyond pills The cloud-face is low on the Clwydian hills There is perhaps nothing on this album as instantly striking as some of their former tracks, no ‘Fred Titmuss’ or ‘Life At The End Of The Tunnel’. And as ever there’s the odd miss on the way. ‘Joy Division Oven Gloves’ has an excellent title but meanders off into the pure silliness most people (who’ve heard of them) imagine they’re all about. ‘Restless Legs’ is an inconsequential observation of, er, someone with restless legs to the tune of George Formby’s ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows’ (also underrated in my view but … we’ll save that for another time…) ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’ contains the “list of modern malaise” track which features on every album; and this isn’t one of the best of them, though it does have the highly saving grace of incorporating the ‘12 days of Christmas’ tune; and including (TV’s DIY SOS’s) “Nick FUCKING Knowles” instead of “five GOLD rings”. Yes, that makes up for it in fact. Yet despite weaker moments, what is present throughout is the incredibly wide-ranging wit and allusions of the song-writing that has been written of as ‘novelty’ for far too long. Let’s get this straight. Half Man Half Biscuit are a ‘comedy band’ (Black Lace, Barron Knights, Fat Les, Electric Six, The Darkness) only in so much as The Bible is a self-help book. And yet, in the end, yes, I suppose you’d have to find some of their more obvious lines funny to appreciate their other qualities. Much is in the delivery and context, yet I suppose if you don’t find “Is your child hyperactive? / Or is he perhaps a twat?” or “It’s a cricketing farce / With a thickening plot / Act One – Scene One / Brenda Blethyn gets shot” amusing even in the abstract then the band as a whole is not likely to appeal. Your loss. Here’s perhaps my favourite off the album: “Gouranga Gouranga? / Yes I’ll ‘be happy’ / When you’ve been arrested for defacing the bridge” Part of the joy of the Biscuits is there’s so many references in the songs you can’t possibly know them all, but you can then seek them out (or look at this site to help you.) They should be on the national curriculum. For instance, the above lines makes perfect sense to me. If it doesn’t to you, you could or should embark on a journey examining the vandalised state of north British motorway bridges, which would then lead you to the propaganda tactics of the modern Hare Krishna movement. It also BUY Half Man Half Biscuit music online from and 260 More Spike email RSS Facebook Twitter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com shows how infectious Blackwell’s humour is. A good percentage of it is about sport for a start, and I can’t stand sport. I still find it funny, and can now follow a conversation about football without eyes glazing over and mouth drooling. This is probably not one of Half Man Half Biscuit’s best albums. And yet its still fantastic. You could learn more about life in modern Britain from this album than all those in the Gallup Top 50 combined. Easy. If Nigel ever reads this he will probably be most amused some pseud has chosen to over-analyse his lyrics. Well screw you Nige. You’re a poet even if you don’t know it. You’ll still be listened to in 200 years time. If I have my way. And by God sir, I will. � BUY Half Man Half Biscuit music online from and 261 More Spike email RSS Facebook Twitter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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