Half Man Half Biscuit

Tchaikovsky

Great band!! Hilarious and witty lyrics and catchy tunes aswell - if you haven't heard any of their stuff, check them out!

Dudess

Wow... that's going back to the days when "indie" meant grey and anoraks, not bands like The Kooks.

PaulBrewer

bins

ShoulderChip

is Ben Gibbard the father of Indie?

degausserxo

ShoulderChip wrote: »

is Ben Gibbard the father of Indie?

I'd go with yeah on that one.

Tchaikovsky

"I went to the Bootleg Beatles dressed as the bootleg Mark Chapman"
Come on! :D

peter1892

"Gouranga, Gouranga - yes I'll be happy when you've been arrested for defacing the bridge!"

Ho-Hum

I just checked these guys out on Youtube, they're great. I love the subversive sense of humour in the lyrics.

Thanks!

Tchaikovsky

Another convert
No bother buddy!

Nolanger

Dickie Davis eyes.

nlgbbbblth

new LP, Bisodol 90 (Crimond) is amazing.

No.125

it's fred titmuss!

SilverScreen

'National Shite Day' is pure genius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FR842KUaOw

smokedeels

Big fan.....

"Is your child hyperactive, or is he perhaps a twat?
Sometimes I like to watch Wave Rage down on Fistral Beach
Last Ash Wednesday I had tantric sex and it was ****
Next Ash Wednesday I might strive to lick my elbow
Strive in vain
For they say
Few succeed"

The Nightingales (Birmingham band) and Yeah Yeah Noh are lyrically similar bands worth checking out.

lewisdhead

All I want for Christmas is the Dukla Prague away kit.

The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman.

bullpost

"Mention the Lord of the rings one more time
and I'll more than likely kill you.
Moorcock, Moorcock, Michael Moorcock you fervently moan"

Genius!

Bought the album in Glasgow when I was over for a qualifier for the 1988 Euros.
We won 0-1 Mark Lawrenson scored.

DublinWriter

http://www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/

I'm such a big fanboy that not only have I ordered two copies of their lastest CD, I've also ordered two copies on vinyl too.

They've been offered silly money to play Dublin in the past few years, but the rumour is they refuse to travel over water to play a gig and have never performed outside of mainland UK.

cinnamon girl

smokedeels wrote: »

The Nightingales (Birmingham band) and Yeah Yeah Noh are lyrically similar bands worth checking out.

Robert Lloyd (Nightingales) was a lyrical genius. He had one song on a solo album where he managed to rhyme "anchor", "thank her", "Paul Anka", "Sri Lanka" and "wanker".

Welease

DublinWriter wrote: »

They've been offered silly money to play Dublin in the past few years, but the rumour is they refuse to travel over water to play a gig and have never performed outside of mainland UK.

I saw them in UK about 15 years ago, and sadly it's probably one of the poorest gigs I have been to.. The humour on the records just didnt seem to translate live, and it got old and boring very quick live..

DublinWriter

Welease wrote: »

I saw them in UK about 15 years ago, and sadly it's probably one of the poorest gigs I have been to.. The humour on the records just didnt seem to translate live, and it got old and boring very quick live..

I think they were going through a pretty lean patch live until 1998 and The Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral CD.

There's some great amateur footage of their gigs on YouTube.

Snickers Man

bullpost wrote: »

"Mention the Lord of the rings one more time
and I'll more than likely kill you.
Moorcock, Moorcock, Michael Moorcock you fervently moan"

Genius!

No it's not. It's pretentious, pseudo artsy fartsy rubbish.

Can't believe that I was once attracted by some of the song titles mentioned above to buy one of their albums. They are truly awful.

A bunch of lads from a working class housing estate trying to connect with the middle classes through the vector of student humour!!! How pathetic is that?

It's like admiring the Germans for their food, or the Irish for their punctuality and discipline, or the Italians for their road manners.

Sneery presumptuous supercillious ****e. Definitely on my list of things/people to send into Room 101.

Just to let you know there's an alternative view. I'll go away now.......

Welease

DublinWriter wrote: »

I think they were going through a pretty lean patch live until 1998 and The Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral CD.

There's some great amateur footage of their gigs on YouTube.

Could be.. anyway it's just a personal opinion.. maybe they just had an off night

I was really looking forward to the gig which made it seem all the worse..either way.. on record at least, they were funny and different which definately makes them worth a listen..I also used to spend all day in Probe records, which is the label they signed to.. so many great memories of that time in the late 80's.

nlgbbbblth

DublinWriter wrote: »

http://www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/

I'm such a big fanboy that not only have I ordered two copies of their lastest CD, I've also ordered two copies on vinyl too.

They've been offered silly money to play Dublin in the past few years, but the rumour is they refuse to travel over water to play a gig and have never performed outside of mainland UK.

The vinyl version includes the CD.

It's a pity that the four albums they released in the 2000s (Trouble / Cammell / Achtung / CSI) didn't get vinyl releases. That sort of inconsistency bugs me.

I've never seen a vinyl copy of Voyage To The Bottom Of The Road but it does exist.

They played TCD in 1986 as far as I remember.

DublinWriter

Welease wrote: »

Could be.. anyway it's just a personal opinion.. maybe they just had an off night

I was really looking forward to the gig which made it seem all the worse..either way.. on record at least, they were funny and different which definately makes them worth a listen..I also used to spend all day in Probe records, which is the label they signed to.. so many great memories of that time in the late 80's.

All day in Probe? Jaysus! Did you know Geoff? Were you there when he split from the missus?

Probe are one of a kid. To this day there has never between a written contract between them and HMHB. That's some trust on both sides!

DublinWriter

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

It's a pity that the four albums they released in the 2000s (Trouble / Cammell / Achtung / CSI) didn't get vinyl releases. That sort of inconsistency bugs me.

That's the only way to shift units if you're an independent - let's be honest, it'll be on PirateBay if you want it, but the new model with sales has been to include some 'souvenir' value, e.g. selling your album on USB Key, etc - in order to get people to buy physical product.

Vinyl is 'hot' again, so this tactic makes perfect sense to us 40+ something fans wanting to relive those glorious Honved days when at least one of our mates owned a much-borrowed and precious LP of 'Back in the DHSS'.

As for sonic purity, we're not talking Mike Oldfield or Yes remasters here. I can still hear the woeful tape hiss on the beginning of 'God Gave Us Life'....on the vinyl release! But to me, that is part of it's character.

Welease

DublinWriter wrote: »

All day in Probe? Jaysus! Did you know Geoff? Were you there when he split from the missus?

Probe are one of a kid. To this day there has never between a written contract between them and HMHB. That's some trust on both sides!

lol no (or not more than anyone else who worked there) Just one of many manic music fans in Liverpool who used to go in an listen to music and buy records.. I must have bought over 1000 vinyl albums/12" from Probe in the 5 years I lived there. They also used to have the flyers/tickets for gigs.. so it was the best place to see who was playing live in the coming weeks.

I went back last week for the first time in 18 years, and it was sad to see a Ted Baker shop where Probe used to be (I heard they moved to the Bluecoat centre) ... at least the Eleanor Rigby statue is still there..

Billy Mays

Love HMHB. Only got in to them a couple of years ago. Seriously catchy songs and brilliant lyrics.

Dan Dare

There was a letter printed in the above mentioned paper yesterday from Nigel Blackwell of HMHB complaining about the appalling driving of articulated truck drivers on UK motorways. Am fond of Vatican Broadside myself.

MadameGascar

With my Joy Division oven gloves!:D

old hippy

And the light at the end of the tunnel, is the light of an oncoming train

HMHB have just got better and better over the years. Remember when I first heard them on the likes of Peel and Fanning, circa 85/86...

They take the piddle out of everything, no sacred cows with these lads.

paddylonglegs

Sounds like the band Young Knives took influence from them

The Scientician

Snickers Man wrote: »

No it's not. It's pretentious, pseudo artsy fartsy rubbish.

Can't believe that I was once attracted by some of the song titles mentioned above to buy one of their albums. They are truly awful.

A bunch of lads from a working class housing estate trying to connect with the middle classes through the vector of student humour!!! How pathetic is that?

It's like admiring the Germans for their food, or the Irish for their punctuality and discipline, or the Italians for their road manners.

Sneery presumptuous supercillious ****e. Definitely on my list of things/people to send into Room 101.

Just to let you know there's an alternative view. I'll go away now.......

German food is great.

old hippy

Snickers Man wrote: »

No it's not. It's pretentious, pseudo artsy fartsy rubbish.

Can't believe that I was once attracted by some of the song titles mentioned above to buy one of their albums. They are truly awful.

A bunch of lads from a working class housing estate trying to connect with the middle classes through the vector of student humour!!! How pathetic is that?

It's like admiring the Germans for their food, or the Irish for their punctuality and discipline, or the Italians for their road manners.

Sneery presumptuous supercillious ****e. Definitely on my list of things/people to send into Room 101.

Just to let you know there's an alternative view. I'll go away now.......

You've completely missed the point, the raison d'etre of the band. They satirise pseuds and artsy fartsy stuff - nobody does it better - and they appeal right across the social strata. Fancy taking them to task over class! :rolleyes:

DublinWriter

Snickers Man wrote: »

A bunch of lads from a working class housing estate trying to connect with the middle classes through the vector of student humour!!! How pathetic is that?

The vector of student humour? I might just steal that now to use later.

HMHB : If I Had Possession Over Pancake Day

Outside Goldsmiths’ coughing up blood,
Turner Prize judge gasps “Christ that’s good -
Leave it as it is, it’ll get first place
We’ll call it a full shift at the coal face”
Oh well you’re neither a Stuckist or a YBA
and you’re no longer a miner as of today

Praise for the wardens ready to fine
Anyone caught saying “graphic design”
Rag-mag seller said I’d be in pleats
Only when he’d been cleaned from the streets
Oh I could squeeze my lemon ’til my blues went away
If I had possession over Pancake Day

Give a philosophy student a glass of limeade
and he will say: “is this a glass of limeade?”
and “if so, why is it a glass of limeade?”
and, after a while, he’ll die of thirst

Salmon Leap

Trumpton Riots!

Blackhorse Slim

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

They played TCD in 1986 as far as I remember.

I'm pretty sure they didn't. I took the day off school to see them, but Nigel "had a sore throat" and they didn't make it.

I got to see them in Reading a few years later (maybe 1990?) and they were great. There was a large crowd who knew all the songs and sang along, great party atmosphere.

nlgbbbblth

Blackhorse Slim wrote: »

I'm pretty sure they didn't. I took the day off school to see them, but Nigel "had a sore throat" and they didn't make it.

I got to see them in Reading a few years later (maybe 1990?) and they were great. There was a large crowd who knew all the songs and sang along, great party atmosphere.

ok - never heard any reports of it, just remember it being announced. So that means no shows here ever.