Chumbawamba - The Boy Bands Have Won

Chumbawamba are back, armed with acoustic guitars, accordion and trumpet, five-part harmonies, a bucketful of attitude and a new 25-track 2008 release. The album features guests the Oyster Band, Roy Bailey, Robb Johnson, Barry Cooper and Jim Boyes and a hundred others, give or take a few. Some of its songs tackle all the important stuff like poetry, war, death, knickers and Lord Bateman’s motorbike accident. There’s also some heavyweight wrestling with WH Auden, Bertold Brecht and Lord Bono. No Masters. Album Description

An Excellent Chumbawamba CD

I have 7 Chumbawamba albums in all and all of them are really good and this one is no exception. This is a great album with nice melodies, powerful lyrics and a strong message. I recommend it very much. November 11, 2008

Mindthumping!

Brilliant lyrics and harmonies! Funny, melodic, poetic, intelligent and deadly! The deceivingly gentle, harmonic, madrigal quality of the vocals enhances the socially acerbic lyricism. "Add Me" should be required listening for every facebook subscriber! While "Sing about Love" pretty much says it all. A very simple yet profound song that clearly expresses the continuing need for protest anthems. Hard to believe this is the same band that brought us "Tubthumping." September 26, 2008

A "Cinematic" Release

Brilliant title on the latest effort from these anarcho-punks turned dance hit superstars turned acoustic folksters. This CD has an interesting twist to it in that most of the songs tend to bleed from one into the next giving the album continuity of an almost cinematic quality. Even though the songs range from sad to bittersweet to whimsical to inspirational there is a coherence due in part to this technique. Now when I tell you there are 25 tunes on this one don't be alarmed. Many are short one minute musical observations (some with sampled sound-bytes that also lend to the overall cinematic montage feel). In fact that is really my only complaint with this album. That it feels like when many of these short songs are just beginning to develop that is when they end. From the a capella "El Fusilado" to the lovely "Unpindownable" to the powerful "Waiting For The Bus" this disc covers a lot of ground. A wonderful pair of musical bookends (akin to the opening and closing credits of a film) provided by the first and last tracks serve to tie up the whole package neatly while still leaving a bit of an open ending to lead into their next release (See what I said about the cinematic feel to this one?). Check it out. September 13, 2008

Chumbawamba's best album yet

This is an album to fall for; I love it and have listened to it again and again. I think it is much easier to say why you really like something than explain why you should love it...but I shall make a brave attempt at the risk of sounding silly (though perhaps this capacity for silliness is our one saving grace).

Musically it is superb. The harmonies are tight as always, the songs mix up sounds, instrumentation and pace in a grand combination of the old and the new to create something that is...close to perfect I think. And these are all great songs: witty, thought-provoking, inspiring by turns. But this alone cannot explain how I fell in love; it takes more than that. I was reading a book by Mervyn Peake the other morning on the train while listening to this for the first time. And I found the following brilliant line in it through some luck of the universe; he says, "It was not often that Flay approved of happiness in others. He saw in happiness the seeds of independence, and in independence the seeds of revolt." And this album contains happiness, the melodies are beautiful and they make my heart sing along. The words are hard and sharp and deep, they speak to life as it is lived and struggle as it is fought, and these words paired so perfectly with such melodies mean even the sad ones bring a smile (of resolve) to my lips. Too many beautiful and happy things signify an escape from reality, an illusion, a simplified version of the world that I find unacceptable and think we'd all be better off for smashing completely. And so those rare instances where you can find something both true and lovely are all the more precious. We need smiles and beauty and happiness, I think we revel too much sometimes in our anger and martyred commitment. We forget how important hope and happiness are; we forget what joy in the work and in each other can bring. The revolt we are all involved in is too great to go without that.

And if you are not yet in revolt, then you certainly should be. So listen closely to the words.

I don't know that I believe that words can save us...that's one of the conversations I love to have at length over a couple of pints, it is my own ongoing struggle. As a writer I believe they must or how could I write? And like them I would love to write about love but cannot, until there is no need to write of everything, and for everything, else. Even in sharing such a weight comes relief. Yet I was an organizer for years and so the value of action feels far more important in a world where words too often sell you short, and fail to achieve anything at all...buy me a pint and I'll argue either side. And then at the end acknowledge you need both, action arm in arm with inspiration and thought. I love the idea of binding my words around my waist, or of my words going right around the world. I love how it is words that show us our place in the movement, connecting us to the efforts of everyone who has gone before us and those who will come after. I love that words save people's stories and courage from obscurity; words teach and inspire and give hope. They are a vital part of what moves us forward, and an album with words and music such as these is a gift. Even if you have to buy it, which you should do with pleasure. And to end on a very practical note (ha!), don't buy the download because the liner notes are (as with all of Chumbawamba's CD's) one of the most important parts of the album. July 15, 2008

An Unpleasant Surprise

Musically speaking this is another warm, folksy, listener-friendly effort. However, to equate being a recovering alcoholic with being a creepy predator (in "Add Me") is unelightened to say the least. It's surprising to hear such blatant stereotyping from such a supposedly forward-thinking band. Alcoholism has long been recognized as a progressive illness. For many decades now, recovery programs have saved lives and helped countless people to develop into productive, mature, spiritually centered members of society. Most recovering alcoholics are happy, healthy people involved in happy, healthy relationships. Some may regard the line in "Add Me" as darkly humorous, but really it's just plain offensive. July 8, 2008

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