Chumbawamba, 'Un' (Mutt Records) Released 26/04/04

Yes, you heard right, that’s Chumbawamba. They’re still about and 2 decades on from their 1984 debut 'Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records', these Tubthumpers are still waxing lyrical about the politically charged topics de jour. Guantanamo Bay, Ebay, Buy Nothing Day, all get a lyrical look-in on the 2004 zeitgeist list. Rabble-rousing the message may still be, the musical mood however is far more subdued than what we’ve come to expect. It is, quite evidently, the sound of Anarcho-punks getting a bit old.

The Chumbas have always embraced a medley of punk n folk n pop, but on 'Un' the angry guitars and raucous shouting are now but a hazy memory, mingled in with long-gone miners’ strikes and John Prescott drenching. The English folk sound stays and  has been carefully blended with noises from further afield to create a contemporary world music vibe. Manu Chao is an obvious point of reference, particularly on Babylon-bashing ‘On Ebay’ (although the sound may have matured, the 80s' crusty lingo lingers - who says Babylon these days?). Their strong Pop sensibilities thankfully remain, and prevent the album straying too far into twee hippydom.

Chumbawamba have always been an easy target, stark against the backdrop of more fashionable identikit white-boy guitar bands; their chug along punk-pop berated in favour of more ‘sophisticated’ sounds. But that’s exactly why I hate to dismiss them here – I’d much rather a wry bunch of true-to-their-cause English eccentrics, than a hoard of smug industry twats. Any day. So please take Un for what it is, and you’ll see that it’s not actually all that bad. It certainly won’t win any new conscripts to the cause, but is perfect for their existing, similarly maturing, core fan base who these days prefer thier anarchy in a gentler form.