Chumbawamba

Shhhlap! is more of a public service than anything new -- a two-fer of the albums Shhh and Slap! Both have their significance in the Chumbawamba canon, marking a turning away from their outright punk past and into a more individual, modern sound; bringing out the innate humor and wordplay that's been one of their trademarks ever since. Shhh is a decidedly cynical look at the music business; the album that appeared after their projected music business take, "Jesus H. Christ", was unable to happen because no one would grant licenses for the use of samples -- Shhh being a reference to being gagged. In many ways it's the same album, cunningly re-recorded to hint at what's missing without crossing the line into outright illegality, and it skewers a number of stars very well. Slap! is the unabashed political album, bookended by the tracks "Ulrike" and "Meinhof." In between are slapstick, verbal jousts, taunts, and music that had its grounding in punk, but was also in love with the new possibilities of techno and electronica. It's the most European album in the Chumba catalog, with headlines for song titles "Chase PC's Flee Attack By Own Dog," and a sense of humor bordering on the absurd at times. It's easy to dismiss Chumbawamba as sloganeers, but listen more than once to this and you'll see there's plenty of thought -- and emotion -- behind their work, and some marvelous, cheeky intelligences at work. ~ Chris Nickson, All Music Guide