Spike Magazine

Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com
Review [published June 2000]
Half Man Half Biscuit: Trouble Over Bridgewater
Gary Marshall
If there was any justice in the world, it would be illegal
to own Simply Red albums and Half Man Half Biscuit
would be worshipped as gods. Unfortunately, the vagaries
of the music business mean that the band who brought
us the immortal lyric “God, I could murder a Cadbury’s
Flake, but then you wouldn’t let me into heaven / or
maybe you would, ‘cause their adverts promote oral
sex” (‘Dickie Davies’ Eyes’) are unlikely to become as
big as Boyzone. It’s a shame because, as Trouble Over
Bridgwater demonstrates, Half Man Half Biscuit are one
of the funniest bands Britain has ever produced.
Like every other HMHB record, the band’s millionth
album (ok, eighth) sounds like it was recorded in a shed
and misses its targets as often as it hits them; nevertheless,
there are enough gems on the CD to make it an
essential purchase. The usual mix of punky guitars and
deadpan vocals is present and, to our ears, the standout
track is ‘Irk The Purists’ (“Irk the purists, irk the purists,
irk the purists, it’s a right good laugh”). The song uses the
tune of ‘Agadoo’ to devastating effect: “Hüsker Dü-Dü-
Dü, Captain Beefheart, ELO”. It’s a good indication of
the rest of the album, too. If you think slagging off the
whiny indier-than-thou brigade is a great way to spend an
evening, Trouble Over Bridgwater will have you in tears.
The band’s strength has always been their willingness
to wring every last drop of humour from a stupid
idea, and ‘The Ballad Of Climie Fisher’ is a classic
example of this. Revealing the answer to the not very
frequently-asked question, “whatever happened to 80s
popsters Climie Fisher?”, the song recounts how the
clean-cut stars went into the gravel business, with awful
consequences. Similarly, ‘Used To Be In Evil Gazebo’
takes gleeful aim at gloomy indie bands, with the genius
chorus “I used to be in a mental hospital but I don’t
like to talk about it”. Other songs are worthwhile just
for their song titles: who can resist ‘Twenty Four Hour
Garage People’ or ‘Look Dad No Tunes’?
If your listening tastes are more Celine than Clinic,
Madonna than Mogwai, you’ll find Trouble Over Bridgwater
goes right over your head – even we found some
of the pop culture references entirely baffling. If, on the
other hand, you’ve an encyclopaedic knowledge of indie
music and regularly trounce all-comers at the local pop
quiz, this album is as essential as breathing. �
BUY Half Man Half Biscuit music online from and
262
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