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To all those kids
in Africa who aren’t
eating enough / I don’t
think you understand I’m
the one who has it tough
/ Sure you’re dying
of starvation and disease
/ But at least the paparazzi
respect your privacy
Man Bites God are masters
of delivering a piss-take
with a straight face,
and with nothing but sincerity
in performance and production.
The above paragraph was
lifted from the opening
track, Rock n’ Roll
Lifestyle, a catchy jive
written form the perspective
of a rocker who wishes
he could stop snorting
coke off the breasts of
groupies and just meet
a nice girl who would
knit him a sweater.
Man Bites God are actually
a mean bunch of multi-instrumentalists,
with each taking on between
two and five different
playing duties throughout
the album. My guess is
that, having discovered
they couldn’t write
a serious song to save
themselves, they just
decided piss-takes were
a better way to make a
living than top 40 covers.
Some fine moments include
The War March, a crisp
woodwind and snare roll
tune plugging recruitment
in The Army Reserve. “For
those who like their horror
in bite-sized portions”,
so the slogan goes. Also,
there’s the 70’s
glitz-pop production of
Solar Flares, “Made
from Hydrogen and Helium…
she’s the poster-girl
for spontaneous self-combustion
in her Solar Flares”.
And while I’d love
to tell you about the
insecure pleas for recognition
from the self-aware unlisted
bonus track, some things
are just too good to spoil.
Suffice to say the Python
geezers would be proud.
Catholics beware! Listening
to even a few seconds
of some parts of this
album will prompt you
to not walk, but sprint
to the nearest confessional
booth… There’s
sexual fantasies about
the Pope and Jesus! (Didn’t
some guy almost put Rove
off the air for doing
that?) Indeed sometimes
your first reaction will
be one of dumbfounded
shock… but laugher
will usually ensue. And
while there’s not
much to The Pope Song
except cheap shock value,
even prudish types like
me can’t help but
crack a smile at lines
like this from Hymn: “When
he says ‘Take this,
my body’, I don’t
think he means bread…”
My favourite? Deborah
Conway’s guest spot
as the long-suffering
wife of a ninja in Bride
of the Dragon. “When
he asked me to move into
his dojo, I said yes,
even though his voice
was badly dubbed…
But now it’s just
a life spent in cat-like
readiness!” she
moans.
(Jesse Shrock,
Beat) |
