Chumbawamba
Tubthumper
You know, Tubthumping, right? And that's just the top of the iceberg. Tubthumper (that's the album, get it?) keeps on improving from there. Great songs connected by samples and sound clips of more than average strangeness. And, as a pure bonus, the songs aren't only great to listen to, they also have a point. A point which, in case you don't get it yourself, is explained in the CD booklet. Just the fact that the booklets have to have notes blanked out to be published in the USA is reason to support them. Not your average sugar-sweet pop music here, no. These anarchists are into some serious criticism of the bad parts of society. Governments, nazis and other narrow-minded people all get their fair share of kicking. And in such a great way too ... Scapegoat, Mary, Mary, Amnesia, The Good Ship Lifestyle ... I could go on like this, listing all the other songs as well, but you get it anyway (I hope ...). A chorus like "Do you suffer from long-term memory loss ... I don't remember" on its own deserves praise. And that cover-baby. And ... and ...
Great music that can get you to think a bit about things without being difficult to get into.
Uneasy Listening
A collection the way you want it to be, not of greatest hits but rather just of stuff from 1986 to 1998. And what great stuff it is! The songs aren't as immediate as those on Tubthumper, but it takes much longer to wear out those songs. It's strange how twenty songs from a period of twelwe years and with so diverse sounds can fit together so good, but they do. People used to thinking Tubthumper is how Chumbawamba sounds is in for a surprise. There's a capella songs, ballads, country influences and even a few really aggressive pieces with lots of angry guitars to boot Look, No Strings, Hanging On The Old Barbed Wire and Song Of The Mother In Debt are three favourites and also good examples of the enormous variety of the album (trow in Smash Clause 29! for another extreme). Probably the most rewarding of the Cumbawamba albums I've got so far.
What You See Is What You Get
The latest creation of Chumbawamba, ready for a new millennium? The album keeps up the trend from Uneasy Listening of pretty ugly cover design. It's not bad, there's an idea and purpose to it all, it's just some kind of planned, somewhat tasteless, ugliness. Don't worry, the record is nicer. In all, it's 22 tracks long, but that doesn't give a correct impression of its length. In fact, the vast majority of the songs are well below three minutes, and only one is over four. It's like they let all those mini-songs from Tubthumper have own tracks here. Personally, I think that's a bit of a weakness, I'd rather have seen a few less but longer songs. Now WYSIWYG gives a bit of a fractured impression, you hardly have time to get into some songs before they end. Tubthumper gave a much more even and streamlined impression. But if it's variation you're after, you've come to the right place. There's country-esque tunes, ballads, faster more aggressive tunes and a Bee Gees cover to keep everyone satsified. Cumbawamba will never risk growing old and repetitive and yet there is something distinct over the sound keeping things together. Everyone deserving it gets a share of the kicking as usual, and in some of the most sugar-sweet of songs too. "Political experiences distilled into three-minute pop songs", quoting the sleeve notes, is a pretty accurate description ...
What you see isn't what you get, and you ain't seen nothing yet. And that's just what you learn from the cover ...
