Who Do We Hate Today? Jim Bob

• 1 Jim's Bed Of Unease (Intro) 00:21
• 2 The Earth Bleeds Out 01:18
• 3 Shona Is Dating A Drunk, Woman Hating Neanderthal Man 03:19
• 4 #prayfortony 02:16
• 5 Where's The Backdoor, Steve? 02:19
• 6 Karen (Is Thinking Of Changing Her Name) 03:05
• 7 A Random Act 06:01
• 8 The Summer Of No Touching 02:56
• 9 Song For The Unsung (You're So Modest You'll Never Think This Song Is About You) 04:15
• 10 Men 02:41
• 11 Evan Knows The Sirens 02:29
• 12 The Loneliest Elephant 04:27
• 13 Who Do We Hate Today? 01:08
• Total Runtime 36:35

Info for Who Do We Hate Today?

Ziemlich genau ein Jahr nach seinem Comeback-Album “Pop Up Jim Bob” veröffentlicht der ehemalige Sänger und Gitarrist der britischen Indie-Institution Carter USM sein neues Album “Who Do We Hate Today”. Wieder einmal beweist Jim Bob dabei, welch großartiger Songwriter, aber vor allem welch fantastischer Texter er ist. Und auch wenn nicht jeder Song ein Volltreffer ist, als Gesamtwerk funktioniert “Who Do We Hate Today” sehr gut.

Aber gehen wir zunächst noch einmal zurück, ins vergangene Jahr. 2020 erschien nach sieben Jahren das erste Lebenszeichen von Jim Bob, der sich bis dahin verstärkt als Buchautor hervorgetan hatte. “Pop Up Jim Bob” wurde in Großbritannien von Presse und Fans extrem gut angenommen und schaffte es auf Platz 26 der offiziellen Albumcharts, was man als Indie-Künstler ohne großes Marketing-Budget erst einmal schaffen muss. Mit seiner Backing-Band, den Hoodrats, scheint Jim Bob darüber hinaus auch einen guten und für ihn wichtigen Rückhalt gewonnen zu haben, so dass das nun erscheinende Album “Who Do We Hate Today” fast schon ein Selbstläufer geworden ist.

“Imagine a world without airports or cars. I was literally counting and thanking my stars. For a moment or two there was hope in the flu. As the Earth bleeds out. Now getting a tan in Alaska’s a thing. It’s summer in winter and autumn in spring. I get all the news that I need from the weather report. The polar bears roar and the kittens miaow ‘What the fuck are the human beings doing now?’ But the kids are on strike so I share and I like. As the Earth bleeds out.” (“As The Earth Bleed Out“)

Die 12 Songs (das Intro zähle ich einfach mal nicht mit) bestechen mal wieder durch gesellschaftskritischen Sprachwitz und eine ziemlich interessante musikalische Homogenität. Kurze Punk-Songs (“The Earth Bleeds Out”, “Men”) mischen sich mit schwungvollen Indie-Songs mit 1970er-Feeling (“The Summer Of No Touching”, “Song For The Unsung”). Dazu gibt es Carter USM-typische Songs, die man eigentlich überhaupt nicht zuordnen kann, aber eben typisch für die Alben sind, auf denen Jim Bob mitspielt (“#prayfortony”).

Letztlich ist es aber auch auf seinem aktuellen Album so, dass die Lektüre der Texte die Hälfte des ganzen Spaßes ausmacht. Niemand hat so einen giftigen und realistischen Blick auf die gesellschaftlichen Probleme. Dieses mal auch weit über den britischen Tellerrand hinausblickend. Schade, dass es kein deutsches Pendant zu Jim Bob gibt. Gerade jetzt könnten wir hierzulande so jemanden gut gebrauchen.

“Men with the power and no way of controlling it. Headstrong and stubborn and proud. Men with the money, their dicks out and rolling in it. Aggressive and angry and loud. Men in a global pandemic. Seeing the light at the start of the tunnel. And making two hundred million dollars a minute. Men for the win, the poorest of losers. You’ve got to be a cynic to win it.” (“Men“)

Jim Bob

James Robert Morrison aka Jim Bob
was born to two parents Frank and Jenny. Jenny was a singer, long distance swimmer and speed skater, while Frank was a theatre stage manager and carpenter. So, as show business, showing off and to a lesser extent – carpentry – was in the blood, Jim set out on the yellow brick road to fame and fortune.

After years of pop struggle Jim would release his first records with the band Jamie Wednesday, whose horn section Jim would work with again fumfty years later when Jim was reading a book about learning to play the recorder and discovered it was written by Jamie Wednesday sax player Simon.

After Jamie Wednesday Jim Bob formed Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine with guitarist Fruitbat. Together as Carter they would have 14 top 40 singles and a number one album, selling over a million records and touring the world. With Carter, Jim Bob would become known for his socially aware pop lyrics and in particular his use of puns.

Carter split in 1997 but reformed ten years later for two massive sell out shows: life affirming gigs that would lead to more sell out Carter shows in 2008. In November 2009 the band performed their first four albums in full at two shows in London. And in 2011 they headlined the Beautiful Days festival in Devon and played to further sold out shows at Brixton Academy and Manchester Academy. Three more Carter gigs followed in 2012: Glasgow, Leeds & London. In 2014, the final three Cater shows were announced: Bearded Theory Festival and two shows in London.

Outside of Carter Jim Bob has had a long and varied solo career. He has released seven albums – solo and with his discopoppunk band Jim’s Super Stereoworld. Jim’s eighth solo album ‘GOFFAM’was released in April 2009. ‘Goffam’ is his second concept record, following on from the critically acclaimed ‘School’ – which told the story of a struggling comprehensive and its orchestra. ‘The story of Goffam’ is set in a city in the grip of crime and in desperate need of superheroes.

Jim’s autobiography ‘Goodnight Jim Bob – On The Road With Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine’ was published by Cherry Red Books in 2004 to yet more critical acclaim.

Jim has written songs for Ian Dury and for the 2006 Barbican production of Mark Ravenhill’s Dick Whittington & His Cat, directed by Edward Hall and starring Trigger from Only Fools and Horses.

In August 2010 he made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in the Ward and White musical ‘Gutted, A Revenger’s Musical’.

His seventh solo album ‘A Humpty Dumpty Thing’ came with a mini novel ‘Word Count’, which Jim has adapted as a screenplay for a Hollywood production company and Jim’s eighth solo album ‘What I Think About When I Think About You’ was recorded with 26-piece The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra. Jim Bob’s eighth solo album ‘Jim Bob Sings Again – Accompanied on the Piano by Chris T-T’ was released in 2016.

Jim Bob has written four novels; ‘Storage Stories’ (Ten Forty Books), ‘Driving Jarvis Ham’(Harper Collins) ‘The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81’ and ‘Frank Derrick’s Holiday of a Lifetime’ (Pan Macmillan), published under the name J.B. Morrison and translated into French, Italian, German, Japanese, Turkish, Czech and Dutch.

The sequel to Jim’s memoir ‘Goodnight Jim Bob – On The Road With Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine’, ‘Jim Bob from Carter – In the Shadow of my Former Self’ was published by Cherry Red Books in March 2019. His fifth and sixth novels ‘A Godawful Small Affair’ and ‘Harvey King Unboxes His Family’ were published together in one paperback by Cherry Red Books in March 2020.

This album contains no booklet.