Chumbawamba / Boy Bands Have Won, The
Album: Boy Bands Have Won, The   Collection:General
Artist:Chumbawamba   Added:Aug 2008
Label:Trade Root Music, Llc  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2008-10-05 Pull Date: 2008-12-07
Week Ending: Dec 7 Nov 30 Nov 23 Nov 16 Nov 9 Nov 2 Oct 19 Oct 12
Airplays: 1 1 2 2 4 2 2 4

Recent Airplay
1. Apr 16, 2011: Everyday Commotion
El Fusilado
4. Nov 05, 2010: Everyday Commotion
El Fusilado
2. Mar 11, 2011: Everyday Commotion
Charlie
5. Apr 08, 2009: Everyday Commotion
Charlie
3. Jan 14, 2011: Everyday Commotion
Charlie
6. Dec 16, 2008: That's Still Not Bluegrass
Charlie

Album Review
Gabe
Reviewed 2008-10-26
Find me a band that can write a catchier, more clever, more heart-aching, yet absurdly humorous song than “Add Me” here. Then see if that other band can do it a dozen times, use only acoustic instruments in the process, perform it all exquisitely, and then add historical and political context, connect all these pop gems properly into a flowing album, and … you just can’t. This is brilliance of the first order from a band that has consistently, for 20+ years, battled the forces of crap commercialism, except that one time they struck it rich with a crapulously commercial frat-boy anthem, just because they could. By rights, this album should be the zillion-seller. The overarching theme here is “change”, illustrated most “obviously” by the contention that music cannot be allowed to stagnate, but sneakily disguised in a variety ways among the songs, between which lie a few shorter interludes, which are good in their own right but which I will not review below. Most highly recommended and you shan’t hesitate to play any of the songs on the CD. And if you need more info than already provided in the booklet, check chumba.com.

2. I won’t give away the punchline but suffice it to say that black humor and searing
empathy are in perfect balance, as are klezmer-ish clarinet, accordion, and trumpet
3. Are the bravest the blustering and fighting empire builders or the peaceful talkers?
Acapella and gorgeous.
4. A lament for the bigotry and hatred revealed, posthumously, to be in the heart of the
writer Philip Larkin
5. A swinging acapella story song of a fighter in the Mexican Revolution who survived
a firing squad’s ten shots plus the captain’s shot to the head
6. Sweet melody; lyrics are a bit obscure but the booklet explains that the reference in
the song is to natural selection as evidenced by some moths and therefore, how
change is essential to life.
7. An old English country tune; but in the new lyrics, the protagonist wishes deeply that
his employers would sack him so that he could have his life back; heartbreaking
8. A song positing how much better the world would be if the aggrieved, particularly
bombers, would throw words and rhymes at passers-by
9. Taking the piss on the motivations of entertainment industry do-gooders
11. How differently the rich and the poor live; the only change evident here is increasing
inequality in life even as M. Thatcher and G. Brown are quoted asserting the exact
opposite, approximately 20 years apart.
12. The career arc of a politician in one verse
13. An ode to a radio, for god’s sake, by Betrold Brecht, who lamented only that it was a
one-way medium
14. And speaking of Brecht, a song based on a play on his name, played by a small
marching band
15. The explanation for why Chumbawamba does not “sing about love”; whether singing
about love is an escape from or a progression beyond singing about justice
16. From the notes: “A short aside concerning the reign of Queen Thatcher”
17. Adapting to change under new regimes, specifically in East Germany
18. The sorry stories of how various customers, from the indifferent to the lecherous to
the entitled make life miserable for a waitress
19. A funeral hymn, done with all solemnity, for “received pronunciation”, aka “BBC
English”, aka the language used to filter out the lower classes; do not just gloss over
the music, listen to the lyrics
20. Again from the notes: “A [bluegrass-tastic] singalong for Charles Darwin”,and shit,
do we ever need him now?
22. The sadness of the economically-displaced, “refugees” by all rights but “illegal
aliens” in common usage
23. Miscarriage of justice, racially motivated, false convictions of innocent African-
Americans, do-nothing governors, in Louisiana, today? Yes. Not the Jena 6.
freegarytyler.com And enjoy this somber song of the horror of his case. He’ll be on
the news one day soon.


Track Listing
1. When An Old Man Dies   13. To A Little Radio
2. Add Me   14. (Words Flew) Right Around The Worldd
3. Words Can Save Us   15. Sing About Love
4. Hull Or Hell   16. Bury Me Deep
5. El Fusilado   17. You Watched Me Dance
6. Unpindownable   18. Compliments Of Your Waitress
7. I Wish That They'd Sack Me   19. Rip Rp
8. Word Bomber   20. Charlie
9. All Fur Coat & No Knickers   21. The Ogre
10. Fine Line   22. Refugee
11. Lord Bateman's Motorbike   23. Same Old Same Old
12. A Fine Career   24. Waiting For The Bus
  25. What We Want