Additional personnel: Michael Cohen, Kye Coles (vocals); Neil Ferguson (guitar, keyboards); Chopper (cello); Abbott Sauce Works Band (brass); Geoff Clout, Gutter People.

Recorded at Woodlands Studio, Castleford, England between August 1996 and February 1997.

Personnel: Boff "Beagle" Whaley (vocals, guitar); Jude Abbott (vocals, trumpet); Lou Watts (vocals, keyboards); Dunstan Bruce (vocals, percussion); Alice Nutter, Kye Coles, Danbert Novacon, Michael Cohen (vocals); Neil Ferguson (guitar, keyboards); Chopper (cello); Abbott Sauce Works Band (brass); Harry Hamer (drums, programming).

Recording information: Woodlands Studio, Castleford (08/1996-02/1997).

Photographer: Casey Orr.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Geoff Clout; Gutter People.

Arranger: Chumbawamba.

Chumbawamba had been kicking around the British indie scene for years, releasing nine albums before Tubthumper unexpectedly brought the band to the top of the charts not only in England, but around the world. The difference between Tubthumper and the rest of Chumbawamba's catalog lay in "Tubthumping," a giddily infectious blend of big dance beats, pop hooks, and football chants. It's a standout single, one that finds the group at its catchiest, and there isn't anything quite as good on the remainder of Tubthumper, an album that finds the group downplaying its notorious political radicalism in favor of pop and dance. Still, there's a handful of cuts scattered throughout the record that make the album worthwhile, and there's no denying that "Tubthumping" is a hit single unlike any other. It's one of the least likely hit singles ever, and that alone makes the record distinctive. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rather than opting for the cathartic and visceral approach of fellow agit-prop, anarchist groups such as Crass, Chumbawamba produce cerebral and reflective music on their major label debut TUBTHUMPER. As Gang Of Four's ENTERTAINMENT! was to socialism, TUBTHUMPER is to anarchism. But this isn't the hippie anarcho-ruralism of Gong or sludgy Rage Against The Machine pontification--Chumbawamba knows their theory. TUBTHUMPER mixes textbook anarchism with current musical trends, from jungle and trip-hop to plunderphonics and Britpop.

Throughout this mix of styles, the message is heady. Whether it is union corruption in Liverpool's dockworkers strike ("One-By-One") or anti-Catholic proselytization ("Mary, Mary"), the message is less bomb-throwing Bakunin vitriol and bilious Goldman tirades, and more academic and syncretic. As such, TUBTHUMPER will probably appeal more to the anorak-wearing student type than to members of Class War. Chumbawamba want to use music as a weapon in the war against Capitalism and could become Greil Marcus's next darlings, but if music is just another fetishized commodity in a spectacular society, it will be a while before TUBTHUMPER foments another May '68. Until it does, though, be content to sit back and listen to some enjoyably catchy and thought-provoking tunes.