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Regardez, Ecoutez Et Repetez

by MJ Hibbett & The Validators

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stewart black Songwriting. Proper songwriting is why I love this album. Lyrics that are true, funny, sad, wry and ironic in equal measure all beautifully realised by an excellent band. Favorite track: Do More, Eat Less.
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1.
Like Black Bolt with a cob on You sit there in a sulk While everybody else is down the pub If you think your time's spent better Doing research in your room You are not Mr Fantastic, you're Doctor Doom So Victor, just for you Here's a universal truth Being happy doesn't make you stupid Being clever shouldn't make you sad Having fun will never turn you daft Do you believe sarcastic sneering Is the best way to react To a rotten world only you understand? If the planet's all that awful Then don't you think you should Try and use your mighty power for good? It doesn't take a Cosmic Cube To see that what I say is true Being happy doesn't make you stupid Being clever shouldn't make you sad Having fun will never turn you daft Put this message in a bottle Send that bottle back through time I know someone who could use this advice Hey there Emo Boy give us all a smile Hey there Emo Boy give us all a smile Hey there Emo Boy give us all a smile Hey there Emo Boy give us all a smile Being happy doesn't make you stupid Being clever shouldn't make you sad Having fun will never turn you daft We spend all our lives trapped inside A prison made of bone The sound of laughter says we're not alone We're not alone Don't be alone You're not alone Being happy doesn't make you stupid Being clever shouldn't make you sad Having fun will never turn you daft Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
2.
At the height of Britpop I found myself in France I went to an Indie Disco There to dance The French were enthusiastic They served the beer in pints But they partied like it was 1959 They frugged and strutted like Un jardin du poulets I said Regardez Ecoutez et repetez Hands behind your back And bounce your hips Move your feet around And do the Indie Kid At weddings that I go to The first hour of the DJ's set Is when they play the songs that The groom requests At Mileage's reception There was a small dancing hardcore Of old schoolfriends until My parents took to the floor They started twisting to The Pixies I could have died I said Mother, if you must Please do it right Hands behind your back And bounce your hips Move your feet around And do the Indie Kid I was chatting to a colleague About LINUX for PCs And spent the next five hundred Years asleep When I woke the world had altered Especially for The Kids In that the radio Played songs that went like this (AVANT JAZZ FREAKOUT) They leapt around like Milkmen on a motorway They needed someone hep To show the way So I said 'Hey!' Hands behind your back And bounce your hips Move your feet around And do the Indie Kid Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
3.
The reason that you're fat is that you eat too much It's not to do with your metabolism Your glands, your gran, your genetics The fact that you packed smoking in Are another bunch of things it isn't You need to ditch this list of excuses The only way to lose weight is A simple plan that's still the best Do more, eat less If your physique makes you depressed Do more, eat less If bending over makes you sweat Say no to lifts and take the steps Do more, eat less Now your lifestyle decisions aren't my issue Your BMI scale rating's not my business What pulls my chain is when you say It's so unfair I can't lose weight While wolfing down another pack of Pringles Let's quit the grisling and let's act Like adults and accept the fact There's just one way to shed that flesh Do more, eat less If you would like a looser vest Do more, eat less Oh gentlemen with bouncing breasts Who walk like weebles in distress Do more, eat less It's not just weight where this applies There's an awful lot of work we've got to do in life And there are no Level skipping cheat codes But to put the blame on agencies outside won't help We've got to take responsibility for ourselves And say 'Hey Hey!' I got myself into this mess I'll do more, eat less It's time that I got out of bed I'll do more, eat less When stuck in ruts inside your head Abandon tractor, walk instead Do more, eat less Up to your eyeballs in bad debt Do more, eat less Cannot attract the fairer sex Do more, eat less Wake up that inner voice that says No to self-pity, to life yes Do more, eat less Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
4.
Old friend, his new girlfriend And me in the pub It was so sweet To see them so much in love But conversation was weird We talked about proper stuff For the first time in years Guess it must be because he was on his Best behaviour Best behaviour He didn't want to dissuade her So he was on best behaviour She said Can I get Any of you a drink? When she went to the bar I said I bet you're dying to know what I think I said She's really nice He said Yeah, she really is She's not usually this polite It's almost as if she is on her Best behaviour Best behaviour She normally swears like a sailor She's on best behaviour Sometimes it seems that we spend half our lives Trying to give good accounts of ourselves Some people would say we should speak as we find And it's tough luck for anyone else You know the type Straight talking, direct What you see is what you get Unafraid to be delightfully Politically incorrect But that's not being clever That's just being rude For people who think that they're better Than the rest of us it's an excuse to use Bad behaviour Bad behaviour Do us all a favour And pack in this bad behaviour It's selfish, it's lazy, it's what we're not Hey, manners are free but they're worth a lot Give us suavity, elegance, style and good grace It'll make the world a more charming place With best behaviour Best behaviour The better part of our nature Is when we're on best behaviour Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
5.
In Weatherspoons on Saturday I heard a hen night in full complaint About all the men that they'd ever met Who they'd allowed to chat them up and clamber into their bed They seemed surprised to find that this Had never formed the firm foundation of relationships They shouted 'Where are all the good men?' but They were next door doing Top Tens in the real ale pub The reason that some men act like jerks Is that behaviour tends to work If you really want to stop it it'll take one step Stop rewarding them with sex That's all you've got to do I went to the table and I drew them a map To show them where to go to find the decent chaps Like record shops and computer fairs There's load of lovely fellas there going spare Maths geeks, vinyl freaks, fanboys and goths Trekkers, twitchers, whovians and spods Men with interests beside themselves and their jobs And all they need's a little love and a wash Supporters clubs, allotments, near traction engines Touring battlefields and comics conventions Restoring steam railways, selling fanzines Taking minutes, driving mini-vans and managing teams That's where all the good men go All the good men That's where all the good men go All the good men go I know I shouldn't get upset Whenever women get together And say that men are just a bunch of rotten bastards But we're really bloody not And they must know that is wrong The world is full of lovely brothers, friends and partners But there's a shiftless sect of gits Who loudly act like wankers which Is quite impressive if you're easily led So soft lads do it too Because it seems to get results But if it didn't they'd do something else instead And oh what a wonderful world it would be If the hoodies started looking up to Tim Berners Lee Sir Clive Sinclair on the cover of Heat And the queue for Maplins catalogues running down the street That's where all the good men go All the good men That's where all the good men go All the good men go Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
6.
We can start having fun When all our homework's done When we've revised Our mocks and applied For University We can start making friends When this semester ends There's theses to write And CVs to type I'm a team player We can start to relax In the next band of tax We've children to raise And more bills to pay Responsibilities I have spent most of my life Doing what I hoped was right I've studied and learnt I've saved, paid and earnt I've done enough waiting Let people laugh all that they like I want a motorbike Screw caravans I'm joining a band Won't you play piano? So take my hand and come on Let's bugger off into the sun Let's spend all our cash While we still can We can start having fun Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
7.
RED BLACK GOLD! RED BLACK GOLD! RED BLACK GOLD! RED BLACK GOLD! Near a lonely layby on the B6061 Stands a petrol station rarely used by anyone There behind the cashier's desk The sleeper agent waits For the signal from the Kremlin Telling him to activate Part of a chain of service stations funded by the KGB Designed to form invasion staging posts for the Red Army RED BLACK GOLD! RED BLACK GOLD! RED BLACK GOLD! RED BLACK GOLD! The rest of the chain was quietly sold when the Cold War had cooled down The sleeper used his agent's pension to buy the leasehold out It's all he's ever known to do So he prefers to wait For the signal from the Kremlin Telling him to activate So say 'nyet' to Welcome Break, let Moto be ignored Look for the final holdout On the island of Mam Tor RED BLACK GOLD! RED BLACK GOLD! Searching online for the lyrics to 'Ask' I found an unofficial homepage With a furious debate between teenagers over The words of a Morrissey phrase Some said he sang 'It is the bond' meaning the bond That forms when the lovers unite Others thought it was 'The Bomb' like explosions That go off when love unrequited requites But of course it's the bomb, it's the nuclear bomb Is the bomb that'll bring them together But none of them knew, they had no idea what it meant And I thought, well that's great, that we live in an age Where the kids don't live in certain knowledge That they'll all be wiped out beneath a mushroom cloud Before they're halfway through sixth form college And I know that the world isn't perfect, I know there's lots wrong But at least we have managed to turn round the words of one song Because it's not the bomb, it's not the bomb That'll bring us together And if it's not the bomb maybe it's love Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
8.
My boss was in an indie band once He's still got his paisley shirt He reckons that the ethics of punk Can be applied to the world of work My boss was in an indie band once He's still kicking out the jams He says Here are three bullet points Go and form a Business Plan Because my boss was in an indie band once Yes he was He was – yes he was My boss was in an indie band once He never sold his bass It's in the attic with a box of his singles And the master tapes My boss was in an indie band once And when he started working here It was meant to be a temporary gig While he reassessed his Rock Career My boss was in an indie band once Yes he was He was – yes he was Then he got a message on his MySpace from a girl in Kyoto She's a lifelong fan and her record label wanted to know If he's still got the master tapes, they want to do a re-release Turns out he's got a cult following out there in the Far East He was pleased To say the least My boss is in an indie band now He's got a brand new band They're twenty years younger than he is And they're on tour in Japan My boss is in an indie band now And while he's got time off They've asked if I wouldn't mind Acting up to do his job Now I'm the one who was In an indie band once Yes I was - I've played the Bull & Gate I was, yes I was - Nigel Blackwell knows my name I was, yes I was - I've met that Steve Lamacq I was, yes I was - And one day I'll be back I was in an indie band once Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
9.
The phone rings nine times Before he says 'Yes' She's got a problem with Internet Explorer And he's the Computer Desk He waits and takes the lift to her floor and says 'Show me the problem then' She's mildly mortified to find That everything's working again She flushes bright pink, which he thinks is wonderful She feels like such a fool and so she says It only works because you're here Before you came it was broken It only works because you're here You've got my windows to open Weeks pass and that's that Until he gets in late one day To see she's been and posted a Post-It Note onto his screen that says 'Could you pop up when you've got a minute?' He runs up five flights of stairs To find her computer rebooting And main site IT guy sat in her chair He's red-faced and out of breath, which she thinks is wonderful She knows he wanted to help her and so she says It only works because you're here Before you came it was broken It only works because you're here You've got my windows to open So he pops in to see her when he's passing And also when he's not She's fairly sure that he feels something for her But she can't say exactly what He's nervous and he's shy And that's part of the reason why She likes him But the vague chance of romance is not enough Reason for her to stay He can't believe it when he hears that she's leaving From her whip-round wielding PA There's not enough room on the card to fit All the words that burn in his heart She's leaving It's horrible - he doesn't know what to do Until at her leaving do he puts his hand to his heart and he says It only works because you're here Before you came it was broken It only works because you're here You've got my windows to open She says 'Well you've left it a bit bloody late' 'So let's not waste time now - I think you're GRATE' They kiss, crowd cheers Main site IT guy goes home in a flood of tears Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
10.
One of the walls of my house fell in It's a problem that I've got to get fixed I need to mix up some mortar, get paint, paper and water And a whole lot of brand new bricks But for now I'd rather sit in the bath And have a moment feeling all forlorn Because one of the walls of my house fell in When I heard you slam shut the front door And I hear tarpaulin flapping Passers-by laughing The scaffolding sways in the wind One of the walls of my house fell in I got dragged to the pub to get myself cheered up By my friends who all said 'Never Mind' 'We can build a new wall with a brand new front door' 'To replace the one that she left behind' 'You can re-decorate, it'll be bloody GRATE' And yes I know they were trying to help I said 'Thanks very much, I feel much better' but I still wish you weren't somewhere else And I hear tarpaulin flapping Passers-by laughing The scaffolding sways in the wind One of the walls of my house fell in It's time to repair, rebuild and redesign Feels like I've been doing this for most of my life I've had a string of disastrous frontage collapses My roof has often let in the rain But as the years have gone by I've learnt to DIY In fact I'm practically vocationally trained I've got a bag of spare parts from fixing my wounded heart I've got more Allen keys than MFI I've got a well stocked toolkit, a wide range of drill-bits It's like an NVQ in I'll be all right So when my tarpaulin's flapping And I hear passers-by laughing When my scaffolding sways in the wind It's time for rebuilding to begin But despite the motivational speaking I can't help feeling My ceiling's still leaking Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
11.
We turned up at the venue The promoter said 'Great news guys – You're headlining so you will be On stage about midnight' We groaned with calculation And in unison realised That meant we'd not be home until Four hours past our bedtimes He saw our faces drop and said 'Oh dear m'ducks, what's wrong?' The only way we could explain Was singing him this song: We said we're old and we're tired and we want to go home We're old and we're tired and we want to go home Let me go home - I want to go home Let me go home - I want to go home The birthday party was in full swing When I turned up at eight I thought 'I'll have a couple of drinks' 'And not get home too late' But I dillied and I dallied Until after closing time And I got swallowed by a mob As thirty more revellers arrived The hostess said 'You can't go now' I said 'I fear I must' Demanding explanations I told her it's just because I am old and I'm tired and I want to go home I'm old and I'm tired and I want to go home Let me go home - I want to go home Let me go home - I want to go home I'm missing Newsnight for this I'm missing stacking up the dishes I'm missing calling in the cat And I miss my missus Because when you are proper settled And happily loved up You'll find a marked decline in time You need to spend in pubs That's when you're old and you're tired and you want to go home You're old and you're tired and you want to go home Let me go home - I want to go home Let me go home - I want to go home Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
12.
It feels like Leicester's trying to tell me something And that something is 'Don't come back' They seem afeared that I'll return with my guitar And so they are Redeveloping my past And if you think that that sounds paranoid I would draw your attention to the fact That one by one each pub I've loved or played above Has been demolished Or turned into some flats Feels like they're trying to knock down my life in rock I wish they'd stop Trying to knock down my life in rock I wish they'd stop it The Magazine got knocked down to build Halls of Residence The Royal Mail is now a parking lot They roofed over the Pump & Tap And walled over the stage And they created office space from the Durham Ox The Physio is derelict, The Angel is a house The Spreadeagle's just a hole in the ground The Charlotte's just stopped going Though all that still remained of my days there Was Phil who still did the sound It feels like they're trying to knock down my life in rock I wish they'd stop Trying to knock down my life in rock I wish they'd stop it And so I went to see the Council In the banana buildings on Welford Road Wherein I found the councillor for planning applications Looked like me with a goatee He said Hello I am the you from an alternate universe Where you never moved on from the same old pubs Stuck in the past you never had adventures Or made half the friends you have And also never fell in love So I've come here to knock down your life in rock Don't try to stop Me as I knock down your life in rock Don't stop Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing
13.
14.
Drummers always have to drive Then go and park the car All on their own while the rest of the band Are hanging out in the bar And when they've finally struggled back They'll find that all their kit Is sat in boxes at the front of the stage Exactly where they left it Oh sing with me now A story that's been sent From the very depths of time This is the drummers' lament The drummer has to soundcheck first And finish packing last And worse than this, he cannot drink Because he's driving back Despite all this he'd never moan He takes it on the chin It makes no difference anyway His microphone's not plugged in Oh sing with me now A story that's been sent From the very depths of time This is the drummers' lament A drummer always says to his children As Ringo said to Zac "Don't do what it did son, you'll spend your life sat at the back" As Caeser said to Cleapotra Whilst reclining in his tent "If you bang me bongoes" "I'll give you the drummer's lament" All in all it's a bloody good job That every percussionist Gets to work out all his anger By hitting things, hard, with sticks

about

The fourth album from Indie Legends MJ Hibbett & The Validators, 'Regardez Ecoutez et Repetez' has rightly been hailed as their best yet. An 'Album Of The Day' on BBC 6Music and (very) Long-listed for the Mercury Music Prize, this is their most boistrous, confident, fact packed album covering all aspects of life in your thirties like daft dancing, office politics, dieting, hen nights and getting home before closing time. It's full of music, opinion, tunes and good times - as you can see from the reviews...


It's impossible not to raise a smile at the delightful absurdities and lyrical observations of indie-pop "poet laureate" Mark Hibbett, especially when they're liberally sprinkled throughout "Regardez, Ecoutez Et Repetez", the fourth album from Hibbett and his perfect musical foil, The Validators

Writing from the point of view of a thirty-something coming to terms with adulthood and the modern world, there are numerous eternal truths in songs such as "Do The Indie Kid", "Do More, Eat Less", "All The Good Men", "My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once" and "It Only Works Because You're Here".

The wistful nostalgia of "Leicester's Trying To Tell Me Something", about the closure of the city's venues, has a serious point to make, and like those other kings of the quirky lyric, Half Man Half Biscuit, repeated listening reveals previously overlooked gems.

Like HMHB too, The Validators do indie pop-rock well - catchy riffs proliferate, although unlike their Wirral contemporaries they also add elements of a capella, delightful harmonies, folky sounding fiddle and brass that sometimes brings to mind both latter and early-period Chumbawamba.

Almost certainly too clever by half for popular acclaim, subscribe now to your new favourite underground sensation.

- Sean McGhee, Rock'n'Reel


In a pointy-bearded parallel universe, MJ Hibbett & The Validators would be more than just underground legends.

Regardez, Ecoutez Et Repetez is stuffed with rumbustious pop philosophy you can dance to - the self-explanatory Being Happy Doesn't Make You Stupid, the Hibbett diet plan of Do More, Eat Less and the introducing-the-girlfriend awkwardness of Best Behaviour.

The ballads are cracking too. Information Technology torch song It Only Works Because You're Here is Hibbett's Back For Good, and Leicester's Trying To Tell Me Something is a sweet eulogy to a disappearing town, the pubs and venues he played and the town he might have stayed in, all torn down in the name of progress.

This is indie music the way it was supposed to be, with a gleeful, anarchic DIY spirit, the band's enthusiasm for each and every song bursting out of the stereo. There be magic here - seek it out.

- James Walsh, The Morning Star


Over the course of his and his band's many releases, MJ Hibbett has shown his work to occupy something between a memoir and a column — or a blog — of general observations, a product of his own upbringing, musical and otherwise, in a different time. It's these kinds of tensions and observations that make Hibbett's work more than just "indie pop" as such — if anything, it puts him in line with some of the best hip-hop MCs out there — and Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez continues the string of his winners. Reprising the merry kick of the "Do the Indie Kid" single with a slightly different "music of the future" section, the album otherwise finds Hibbett and the Validators touching on everything from computer desk guys finding love to the travails of having to play shows too late at night, all while finding new ways to gently twist their catchy understated rock chug. "Do More, Eat Less" relies on strings and a merry rhythm shuffle on the verses and squelchy horns on the break even as Hibbett dispenses dietary advice from a knowing position, while "We Can Start Having Fun" might be one of the few rock epics about just going for it worth its salt (and the band lives up to it with massed vocals, a triumphant arrangement, and a slow-burn coda). Perhaps one of the most poignant moments comes with "Red Black Gold," with Hibbett reflecting on the luck of a generation of latter-day Smiths fans not knowing just what "the Bomb" that Morrissey sang of in "Ask" was. It's a perfect summary of noting how time and place shape a person and perceptions — and in keeping with his work, it's a catchy-as-hell song.

- Ned Raggett, All Music


MJ Hibbett & The Validators are another band who are very much about their lyrics and this is very much in evidence on this, their third album. Lead track Being Happy Doesn’t Make You Stupid is a knockabout indie pop tune, with weird interference. It’s difficult not to think of Half Man Half Biscuit, especially when they break into a chorus of “hey there emo boy, give us all a smile”. Do The Indie Kid is the Time Warp for non-indie kids, affectionately sending up their dancing. Do More, Eat Less is a disturbed Muppet Show theme tune, with an upbeat chorus. Vocals are buried deep in the verses, meaning the chorus attracts more attention. It’s weird and wonderful. Its when you get to Best Behaviour you realise how much Mark can sound like Eddie Argos at times, those great affected, sometimes surprised vocals which are also over accentuated and with lots of gaps for effect. It’s a good thing, and he retains enough of his own character to make it endearing. We Can Start Having Fun starts out all mournful and although the lyrics are optimistic it sounds sorry for itself. There’s then a celebratory awakening, brass and shimmering guitars and swaying teary eyed vocals. Red Black Gold rocks out, and goes over the top with bells on when we get to the chorus. It then turns into a waltz about Morrissey lyrics and rocks out at the end only to be covered by radio interference. My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once reminds me so much of I, Ludicrous. It tells the perils of someone reliving his past glories through a following in the far east, to a rattling melody. Has the tale of an impossible office romance every sounded as sad and sweet as It Only Works Because You're Here? Probably not, its maudlin country in its heart, but indie pop in its clothes. And it has a cool wonky chorus too. We’re Old And We’re Tired (And We Want To Go Home) is my favourite on the album, a roustabout tune that would make a great pub singalong for those sensitive and long in the tooth. And it’s all about having an early night. Leicester’s Trying To Tell Me Something has that slow early Mary Chain drumbeat, the sad lyrics of a musical past disappearing to the cost of development, a vented wall of fuzzed guitars now and again and the tear jerking vocal. Regardez, Ecoutez Et Repetez is a very fine album indeed.

- Russell's Reviews

credits

released May 11, 2009

Recorded at The Snug Recording Company, Derby

Produced by Tim Pattison
Engineered by Rich Collins and Rob Newman

Written and played by MJ Hibbett & The Validators, who are:

MJ Hibbett - vocals, guitar, ukelele, keyboards, bass
Frankie Machine - bass, trumpet, euphonium, guitar, mouth organ, vocals
Tom 'Tiger' McClure - violin, electric violin, strings, keyboards, vocals
Emma Pattison - vocals
Tim Pattison - drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals

All songs published by WipeOut Music

An Artists Against Success presentation 2009

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MJ Hibbett & The Validators London, UK

MJ Hibbett & The Validators have performed live on Radio One, had a Record Of The Year in Rolling Stone, an Album Of The Day on 6Music, released one of the first ever viral videos, toured the UK and Europe, featured in an Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, and recorded a science fiction rock opera, all while maintaining their complete independence from outside record labels. ... more

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