Getting into…Half Man Half Biscuit

If you’re a bit of a completist like me, then there’ll be certain artists that you know you’ll probably like but never found the time to get into because their discography just looked too impenetrable. Well, I’ve had the realisation that I write a music blog; so I can call it a project and it’ll give me an excuse to finally get around to some of these artists.

My intention is to do a chronological dive into the back catalogue of a given artist. Each edition will look at one album or EP until I reach their latest release. So the series will chart that journey and, if I do ‘get into’ them, then hopefully it’ll serve as a bit of a beginner’s guide for any other new listeners. And if anyone would like to join me on the journey then I’d be interested to see how our notes compare.

The first in the series will be cult indie stalwarts, Half Man Half Biscuit. The Merseyside band were one of the many pioneering post-punk bands to emerge from the North-West in the mid-80’s. Barring a brief split in the late-80’s, they’ve been steadily releasing music ever since; so by my reckoning I’ll be on this for about six months.

I’ve deliberately avoided too much background reading as I don’t want to form preconceptions or be swayed in my judgements by any existing critical consensus (but if you do want to find out more then the HMHB Lyrics Project site is a treasure trove for all things HMHB).

The band was founded by friends, Nigel Blackwell and Neil Crossley, who have remained the only constants in the lineup. They’ve never particularly bothered the mainstream; or maybe that should read ‘they’ve never particularly bothered with the mainstream’. The famous anecdote being that when they were invited to appear on Channel 4 music show, The Tube, they turned it down as Blackwell’s football team, Tranmere Rovers, were playing that night.

One of the reasons I expect to like them is that they’re often name-checked alongside Manchester greats, The Fall; although HMHB are famed for bringing even more of a satirical and surrealistic edge. However, like The Fall, they have a fiercely loyal fanbase; they’re the type of band that inspires middle-aged blokes to attend gigs cosplaying characters from their songs. As a cynical, miserable twat, this has me somewhat concerned.

For the purposes of this series, we’ll be using the renowned 4-tier rating system, ranging from Half Man to Full Man Full Biscuit.