The latest edition of the Getting into series marks Half Man Half Biscuit’s 1991 comeback album. I took a few weeks off since the previous edition as a symbolic representation of their brief late-80’s split. But also to avoid burning myself out; I’m not sure it’s healthy to ingest this much musical sarcasm in such a short space of time.
This is pure hindsight and probably more revealing of my own cultural touch-points, but my immediate impression was that this definitely feels like a step out of the 80’s into the 90’s. While that old playful jangle of guitars is still very much present, there’s a decidedly scuzzier edge underpinning things. Maybe just the slightest of nods to the shoegaze and grunge scenes of the time. Although, I imagine both of those genres would be far too self-serious for HMHB.
I was also reminded of Blur on a number of occasions. This isn’t to suggest that there’s a Blur influence here; they were still doing second-rate Madchester knockoffs at this point so the timeline would be way off. But, there’s hints of the sound that Blur would develop throughout the decade. I don’t think it’s too outlandish to suggest that Blur offered a slightly more palatable, cheeky-chappy version of HMHB.
As an aside, Blur got tarred as middle-class pretenders in the 90’s, and that’s an assumption I had with HMHB. I’d always been put off by the notion that they were snarky, middle-class, student fare. Now, they are pretty snarky, but the humour and the indignation which drives them is rooted in a sensibility of anti-pretension that is distinctly working class. Their kitchen-sink surrealism feels like it’s drawing from the same well as the comedy of Vic and Bob.
Anyway…the album is a step into the 90’s and also feels like a step forward in another way. Dare I use the old cliché and say that this a more mature version of HMHB. Well, not really, because lyrically it’s still very much the HMHB of old. But, musically, they’ve reined in some of their previous ramshackle charm, and it’s all just a touch more accomplished; the songs are longer and sound fuller. I mentioned in a previous edition that they conveyed an almost deliberate amateurish-ness, but now it’s as if they’ve decided that it’s actually ok to show off that they’re a pretty fucking good band.
While there is a difference in their sound, they’re still no less difficult to pigeonhole into one genre. I’m just going to present some of my notes context-free to give you an idea of what you get here (I’ll leave it to the HMHB ultras among you to work out which songs they’re in reference to):
* Elton John Glam Rock
* Dream Pop meets The Kinks
* Another Girl, Another Planet-style power-pop
* Cheesy synth-pop
There’s some classic Blackwell lines in here. The cult leader-referencing, “Reverend Jim Jones bedspread” is some of his best surrealistic imagery. The Syd Barrett-referencing “Sign on you crazy diamond” is a casually devastating takedown of classic rock idolatry. And his ability to make magic of the mundane is on display, with “bubble perm” and “swivel chair” becoming absurd hooks on Everything’s A.O.R. But, there’s perhaps the first real stinker of a lyric I’ve come across with “I wrote to The Bear, But he didn’t care, I guess he’s not a Care Bear”. Very much in groan-inducing Dad joke territory with that one.
While the song itself is fairly average, Girlfriend’s Fimished With Him may well be the quintessential HMHB song. It returns to a favourite theme of skewering the self-importance of musicians, whilst self-deprecatingly poking fun at their own status as a “quirky” band. Then, part-way through, as if bored by the music biz bullshit, they seemingly abandon the theme. The apparent half-arsed-ness of it typifies HMHB; they have a genuine critique to make, but ultimately it’s just not that serious.
I suspect this may be a bit of a transition album in their catalogue, albeit I don’t know what comes next to confirm if that is the case yet. They edge forward musically, while still sounding unmistakably like themselves. It’s solid and contains plenty of gems, but does lack a certain energy compared to their earliest work and slightly fizzles out towards the end. While they’re always enjoyable, I’m yet to be convinced that HMHB are a band that make great albums.
Rating:
The next edition covers 1993’s This Leaden Pall. Read it here.
You can catch up on previous editions here.
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