Since their reunion in 2014, Collapsed Lung have committed to doing things their own way at their own pace. Content with performing for the sheer fun of it rather than recreating the success of mid-90s Top 20 hit “Eat My Goal”, the self-proclaimed “Zero Hours Band” released their comeback album in 2018. Following a period of relative silence (aside from occasional touring when the 2020 pandemic wasn’t an issue), they returned earlier this year with New Folder(2), a collection of songs from their 90s heyday, re-recorded for modern audiences. A useful decision, given that the dissolution of Deceptive Records at the turn of the century has made copies of their old material exceptionally hard to find these days. However, not content with just re-recording the classics, now they’ve also dropped a new full length album with Collapsed Lung Weekend Television.
While retaining all the humour and self-deprecating wit of Zero Hours Band, Collapsed Lung do sound considerably angrier on Collapsed Lung Weekend Television. Guitarist Steve Harcourt is given much more prominence, featuring hard rock riffs aplenty from the opening track “The Punchline”, with the band fully embracing their status as grumpy middle aged men writing songs about anything which irks them. Whether it be rappers who cup the microphone, ideas of success in music, pride vs shame, Brexit, or the concept of protest songs being appropriated by a class of people that they feel should be protested about. Jim Burke (perhaps better known to younger audiences as chap-hop maestro Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer) is on fire with his inimitable flow and distinctive lyrical style, capably backed up by co-rapper/turntablist/sampler Anthony Chapman, who makes some interesting creative choices with the samples he uses to drive certain tracks. Be it the horns in “Grifter” or the entire basis of “We Roll Shallow”, which is built on the opening theme of… 70s sitcom The Good Life. It’s something which really shouldn’t work, yet it does.
While Zero Hours Band felt largely driven by this creative synergy between Chapman and Burke, it does feel like CLWTV gives Harcourt and bassist Jonny Dawe a lot more of the spotlight. “Too Many Communes” lets the bass take the centre stage in much the same fashion as their classic track “London Tonight”, in probably their most Britpop era-sounding track of the album. It’s not that Collapsed Lung are stuck in the past like some artists who make a comeback after a long absence, though. They bemoan modern problems and modern music; particularly in “Mic Cuppers”, but still embrace newer musical influences to supplement their distinctly 90s sound. Allowing it to sound vintage, yet still new.
It is commendable how they can sound angry and remain humorous at the same time without it becoming jarring, though. “Protest Songs” is perhaps the angriest they’ve ever been, hitting out at how prominent right wing conspiracy theories have become (when they used to be little more than in-jokes made up as a laugh), and how those who used to worship Enoch Powell now position themselves as anti-establishment protesters – a thinly veiled reference to Eric Clapton’s infamous support of Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech. At the same time, the band will randomly interject within their own songs for seemingly no reason, with Chapman stopping “Mic Cuppers” mid-song to explain the technical mechanisms of microphones as transducers, or using a text-to-speech program to explain the entire meaning of the lyrics to “Smooth Jazz Funeral” over the outro to that very song. However, the album does have a bit of a lull in between those tracks. “Super Success” and “High Noon: Unlicensed Meat Raffle” are perfectly serviceable tracks, but Collapsed Lung have set a high standard for CLWTV and these two tracks don’t quite reach the bar that the songs around them have set. At least the album recovers well to end on a strong note, but it does slightly slow the progress of the album.
Overall, though, the zero hours band are still on top of their game even this long into their career. Those who only know them for “Eat My Goal” really need to take a deep dive into their discography and find that there is a lot more to them than a one-hit wonder. New Folder(2) might be the best starting place to discover the songs which are no longer available online, but Collapsed Lung Weekend Television is absolutely not an album to be slept on by any means.
Collapsed Lung Weekend Television was released independently by Collapsed Lung. Buy the album on Bandcamp.
