12 September 1997
I’ve never been sure if ‘Tubthumping’ is meant to be satirical (binge drinking and let’s be havin’ you!) or sincere (drowning your sorrows and soldiering on). Alice Nutter sweetly singing “Pissing the night away” and a wisp of ‘Danny Boy’ certainly has its charm, but again I’m wondering if this record is the sound of a band trying to have it both ways: heartfelt but only up to a point. Either way, the drink-based aggressive pub-chanting defiance of ‘Tubthumping’ doesn’t appeal to me. Also, don’t be mixing your drinks!
Prior to this, Chumbawumba existed in my indie-press-reading consciousness as classic English squat-dwelling anarcho-punks, which is not a bad thing. So, ‘Tubthumping’ at the time came across as a departure for them – mainstream messaging on a major record label, which helps explain why I’ve always found ‘Tubthumping’ corny and irritating, even bland. However, this may just be its English cultural signals and sense of humour not landing for me. And if I find the Englishness of this Irish number one hard to access, wait ’til you see what’s next.
Irish Number Ones 