Imagine walking past the travel agents shop window and alongside the mystery tours and coach trips to Skegness, you see a handwritten sign advertising a punk rock boozy bus jaunt. Intrigued, you turn up at the allotted time with a carrier bag full of warm cans and stand in a dishevelled line with the other punks already in varying states of refreshment. Eventually a rattling old bus pulls up, the doors open and the driver smiles a toothless grin as you get on board. You set off, the driver telling you that the toilets are out of order, but it\’s only ten miles ‘til the next stop Macclesfield. The good news is that the sound system is still in good condition, and so Uncle Stu Taylor from STP records staggers to the front and shoves a tape into the driver\’s greasy mitts. The tape hisses and crackles, and then a drum roll announces the first riff. Ladies and gentlemen, today\’s soundtrack is provided by Hung Like Hanratty.

By this point you\’ve already necked a couple of cans of warm flat beer and the tunes are flowing thick and fast. Given Hung Like Hanratty\’s knack for writing a chorus that you remember right away, you\’re soon singing along to the catchy tunes. Song after song, beer after beer, you join in the commentary of the state of the world – people taking their kids to school wearing their pyjamas, cold calls telling you you\’ve been in an accident, posh cars parked in the disabled spots, the orange gibbon in the driving seat in the White House, your mum\’s cat and the presents it leaves on your lawn…you get the picture. Hung Like Hanratty have their targets set on various subjects and put it this way – you don\’t want to be on the receiving end! Pulling away from Macclesfield after 50 odd punks have emptied their bladders, the driver sets off again with this album still blasting out plastering a massive grin on everyone\’s faces. Take a pinch of Macc Lads, shake it up with some Dirt Box Disco and you\’re starting to get an idea of what Hung Like Hanratty are all about. It\’s not pc, it\’s rude, obnoxious, snotty and fun and before you know it the booze bus tour is over and as everyone falls out of the bus singing the tunes, you all agree you can\’t wait to do it again. Tom Chapman