If The Beach Boys summon up visions of sun-kissed California and
Kraftwerk bring German transport networks to mind, Half Man Half Biscuit are
the sound of a rainy afternoon in a big midlands town. So perhaps it’s no surprise
that the excellent tribute band Half Arsed Half Biscuit come from Limerick. Despite the name, there is nothing careless about
their dedication to the worthy cause of imitating Birkenhead’s greatest musical
exports.
Well, ‘export’ is perhaps
a little ambitious, as HMHB’s oeuvre has been, since the beginning of their
career in the mid-eighties, solidly British in outlook, their songs filled with
often vitriolic references to C grade celebrities, many of whom can be filed
under ‘Where are they now?’. You now
need to be of a certain age to fully appreciate titles such as ‘Rod Hull is
Alive – Why?’, ‘Dickie Davies Eyes’, ‘A Case of Vitas Gerulitis’, ‘The Len
Ganley Stance’, ‘I Hate Nerys Hughes’ and ‘The Bastard Son of Dean Friedman’. And
that is reflected in the age profile of the crowd who have turned up in Bello Bar
tonight, several of whom are dressed in Dukla Prague FC tops (in honour of one
of the Biscuits’ greatest songs, ‘All I Want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away
Kit’).
Winningly, the band
play it straight throughout and are always respectful to the songs, the singer
(whose resemblance to early HMHB champion John Peel is a little jarring – that’s
two tributes in one night!) replicating Nigel Blackwell’s leaden tone to
perfection. It is always surprising when he talks in his own Limerick accent
between songs and at one point he apologises to any British people in the
audience if he doesn’t get Birkenhead just right.
The show is at its
best when the joyful audience sing along to ‘Fuckin’ ‘Ell, It’s Fred Titmus’
and ‘I Was a Teenage Armchair Honved Fan’ and there is some proper moshing
going on by the time they get to ‘Kendo Nagasaki’ and the ferocious ‘Trumpton
Riots’.
At several moments
there are reminders of the frequent brilliance of HMHB’s bedsit/dole poetry. ‘The
light at the end of the tunnel / Is the light of an oncoming train’ is worthy of
Leonard Cohen, while though I am now probably halfway through my time on this
earth I still find it hard to argue with their contention that ‘There is
nothing better in life / Than writing on the sole of your slipper with a biro.’
The singer talked
about possibly playing Spirit Store in Dundalk later this year – check out
their facebook page for more details.
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