Chumbawamba Album: “Singsong and a Scrap”

Whether they're attacking capitalism, Christian fundamentalism, or war, Chumbawamba will entertain and inspire you. This mostly acoustic, punk rock-folk cd is a welcolme new addition to the AK Press folk series and a must-have for every activist's cd collection. I especially love "When Alexander Met Emma", a love song about Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, "By and By", which honors Joe Hill, and "You Can (Mass Trespass, 1932)", a song which inspires us all to reclaim the commons, an urgent message in an age of gentrification, IMF/World Bank structural adjustment programs, biotechnology, and resource wars. With its beautiful harmonies and radical politics, this is yet again another excellent cd from AK Press. As always, I look forward to see what they're going to publish next!!!

the A Singsong and a Scrap sessions is just plain lovely! the songs are quiet and loud, but without being direspectful to the ears, musically.

the songs all have a story of their own and are full of emotion and easy to sing along to. for those whose ears are not racist to a different tune that is smooth and edgy, i recomment A Singsong and a Scrap to you folks!

Chumbawamba has never put out a bad CD, varying only from merely "very good" to "truly outstanding." This is one of the "truly outstanding" ones. The band went through major personnel changes (departures) prior to the recording of this CD. While this is an acoustic work, it's really not that radical a departure from their last CD with the full band, "Un", which had similar instrumentation and feel. Regardless, it's one of their strongest discs. The vocal work, always a strength, is even finer here if that can be imagined, with some gorgeous singing and a capella work. The songs are outstanding, and the lyrics as pointed as always. This is one of the real peaks in Chumbawamba's amazing body of work, and can be recommended without reservation. Easily, it's one of their five best CDs, joining (in no particular order): Shhh, Anarchy, WYSIWYG, and Tubthumper. With an honorable mention to Un.

Always socially concious, and always very poppy despite the dark undertones.

However, this album is a complete turnaround in sound for them, very folky, and they have completley ditched the synths of the past. Some songs like "Fade Away(I Don't Want To)" are a bit lighter than others, but overall the intelligence of the band that performed "I GET KNOCKED DOWN"(There worst, and only stupid song by the way) a decade ago cannot be denied, and the sheer talent is further cemented by doing something completley unexpected.