CHUMBAWAMBA

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TUBTHUMPER (1997)

(reviewed by Philip Maddox)

These guys actually kicked around for quite a while before releasing their breakthrough album, and their older albums are VERY difficult to get in the states. As a result, this is the only one of their albums that I own. This album grew famous on the strength of the hit single "Tubthumping", which is a great song. C'mon, you mean to tell me that you never started singing "I get knocked down! But I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down!" in the shower? I know that I do. The horns, varied vocals, and the great mood the song sets up make it a winner, and it will probably be the only song the group is really remembered for.

The thing is that there are a bunch of other worthwhile tunes on this record, too. The first half is particularly strong. "Amnesia" thumps along at a good pace with a very catchy chorus, as does "The Good Ship Lifestyle". "Drip Drip Drip" is a very happy tune, aided quite a bit by the superb horn section. "One By One" is REALLY overblown, but it is quite pretty and dancable to boot. "The Big Issue" is pretty obvious sounding, but it's still a lot of fun, and the chorus is very memorable.

The second half is a bit weaker; the group seems to be running out of ideas. "Outsider" is nearly instrumental, and while it's pretty good, it screams "toss off!" pretty clearly. "Mary Mary" has a catchy chorus and bridge, but the verses are so damned ugly that they pretty much ruin it. The mock-ominous "Creepy Crawling" and "I Want More" are listenable, but don't have any real reason to be there. At least none of these songs are failures - the only complete failure on the album is "Smalltown", an attempt at "electronica" that drags and drags and drags, even though it's the shortest song here. The second half does pull the album down a bit, but the album is still worth getting, and you can probably find it used for under 5 bucks. At 5 dollars, it's a bargain (unlike Phil Collins' No Jacket Required, which I got for four and still felt kinda ripped off).

OVERALL RATING: 7

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COMMENTS

[email protected] (Rich Bunnell)

Though this band is obnoxious at times, they're also extremely underrated due to their "one-hit wonder" status in the States. They sold out with a beer song and completely lost any artistic integrity that they might have had in the first place. On their best days, they perfectly fuse dance-pop with smart-assed anarchist lyrics and in the process have the ability to be extremely fun and entertaining. I'd recommend that you try to hear their Anarchy album (while Napster is still around) or their new one, What You See Is What You Get.

[email protected] (Pat D.)

I can assure you, Phil, that I NEVER started singing Tubthumping in the shower or anywhere else. ;-)

I think its a terrible song, although at least its different than most of the crap that has saturated the airwaves for what seems like 5 years. Apparently though, these guys are not one hit wonders, but i'll reserve judgement on them if/when i ever listen to any of their albums.

[email protected]

What are you talking about? The song 'Smalltown' off the Tubthumper album was my 2nd favourite song on it!

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