Track of the week - Yeah Yeah Noh: Bias Binding

I've known this track for about 30 years without considering what bias binding is. I had wondered if it was something mechanical.

But watching the Great British Sewing Bee final with Mrs Tea at Johnny's I saw the contestants making bias binding among other things. If you can't be bothered to click that link it's some sort of fabric thing cut in such a way to make it stretchier and/or more drapeable apparently. I don't hope to understand it.

Anyway, I have several of Yeah Yeah Noh's vinyl offerings and am a particular fan of this one from their 1984 Cottage Industry EP.

It's the lyrics that stand out on this track. The band crams more clever wordplay into one minute 42 seconds than some manage in a career. From the opening 'Grabbed a kebab one Workers' Playtime in the summer that passed me by", through "University straight from nursery" to "Italian-American Vietnam veteran knocking spots off Spencer Tracy".

I must confess it's also where I stole my 'putting the fun back into being pretentious' tagline from.


Hugely under-appreciated Yeah Yeah Noh split in 1986, announcing in Viz comic that they were giving up music to get real jobs in finance and suchlike much to the disappointment of their parents.