OK Computer Week: The Bison Chips – Karma Police

This a cappella version of Karma Police is from The Bison Chips’ Appalling and Ridiculous album. They said it, not me.

The album had some terrible reviews. You can read some vicious ones here (choice Cowell-esque quote “Very few groups excel in both studio work and live performance. As Appalling & Ridiculous proves, the Bison Chips do neither”). Given this I’m not going to be too harsh on them. I almost had you going there. God made the task of making fun of them all to easy. On their website they boast that they have boyish good looks. Well, maybe if that boy is Rick Astley. They look like what they are: a bunch of mechanical engineering studying, Klingon speaking, pasty faced nerds. See for yourself.

And then there’s the singing. I’m no Simon Cowell (for which I am eternally grateful) but even I can tell the tuning is all over the place. And the attempts at recreating the sounds of the instruments: Dum dum tish, chica chika, doo doo.

However, I have to admit that the ‘Phew for a minute…’ section, although far from perfect, is actually powerful and worth listening to the rest of the track for.

Bison Chips – Karma Police

Appalling and Ridiculous doesn’t seem to be available in the UK but you can buy it via iTunes.