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Dom Robinson reviews
M.J. Hibbett.com 
We Validate!: 
Better Things To Do:
- Released: June 2006
- Rating: 7/10
I last heard of M.J. Hibbett & The Validatorswith the excellent hit that took me back to my schooldays, Hey Hey 16k, about the veryearly days of the home computers that could be programmed and were an integral part of my growingup as a teenager.
We’re back in the realm of songs that speak to everyman – to students and to eternal students.While 2000’sSay It With Wordscontinued in this vein for the nostalgic and for those who’ve experience unrequited love,We Validate! takes a step forward as Mark finds himself in his 30s, wondering ifhis life in going in the right direction and which step it should take next.
First up, Tell Me Something You Do Like is an upbeat, clever track – which sets the tone forthe majority of this album – about looking on thebright side of things and with a chorus of “Tell me something that you do like, Tell mesomething you think’s GRATE, It’s so dreary sitting listening, To your vacuous complaints”, thisreally should be made into the new theme of BBC1’s Points of View as there’s always so much to havea whinge about at Auntie Beeb 🙂
Looking At My Hands says so much about turning 30 and it really speaks to me about how Ifelt about it too. On the one hand, you don’t want to get to that point and think you know it allat an earlier age, but once *do* you reach the big 3-0, part of the chorus that goes “I feeldeeply satisfied, Knowing what my mind is and knowing that I’m right” says it all as you spendyour school life being told what to do, your university life being told what careers to go for – orthat you should be thinking about going for, and then your twenties thinking that you really shouldbe thinking about doing something about your career and then… you hit 30. And you don’t give a shitanymore… and the best thing is that you don’t *mind* that! The balance is restored once more.
The single, Better Things To Do (right), follows, continuing the theme that so much of life has animportance put upon things that just don’t really matter, but which seem like a must-do to others,yet if we did set about to concentrate on what we could be doing with our time, such as spending moretime with a loved on instead of learning how to program C++ – a very nice touch since part of myUniversity degree featured that language and, my God, what a complete waste of a few hours that was.
Men don’t always say the right thing when it comes to talking to their better half, which is whereGirlfriend Alarmed comes in, while The Gay Train recalls how life went for a friendof his who moved to London and a time at the Gay Pride Festival in 1994 when balloons were let offto commemorate those who had died of AIDS, both tracks which aren’t as instantly a hit with me asthe previous three but a few more listens should sort that out.
Dino at the Sands is a track that escapes me a little bit as I don’t quite know what it refersto even though the notes on the website say it’s regarding things MJ doesn’t like about certain comedydouble acts, while Breaks in the Journey is more ‘everyman’ stuff about missing out on thingsin life because you don’t stop to smell the flowers while you can.
Things get rather political in The Fight For History, as it’s said this fight will happen on theday that Thatcher is dead, but it’s spot on when it refers to someone like Edwina Currie and StevenNorris and about how such people are turning up on reality TV and phone-in shows, with the latter evenhosting a regular general discussion show for a time on TalkSport, a few years back.
Mental Judo continues the optimistic theme set with Better Things To Do and in a similarfashion, while Quality of Life Enhancement Drive is about how we’re all slaves to electronicgadgets which are meant to make life easier, but then it can also make us overlook the things which aresmall but important.
The Lesson of The Smiths is all about desperately ensuring you don’t follow the crowd, particularlywhen it comes to liking bands that everyone seems to like, but give it a bit of time and you’ll findsome bands’ music is actually worth listening to and if you leave it too late… they split up and thenyou’ve lost your chance to see them live forever.
Finally, We Only Ever Meet In Church sums up how quickly stages of life pass us by and that wedon’t get to catch up with friends as often as we should, and if we leave it too long like this thenthe only time we’ll pass by again is for births, marriages and deaths…
Well, I say finally, but there’s still two pieces of around a minute each, a meandering piece known asUntitled and a ‘slight return’ for Dino at the Sands.
On the single, Better Things To Do, comes the additional tracks Leave My Brother Alone,a song about being protected by an older sibling and then being able to return the favour later in lifewhen it really matters; and The Other Rush Hour subtly works in many occasions where events occuras a result of the clocks going forward an hour in the spring and back an hour in the winter and how doyou keep up, since there’s always confusion over it.
It’s all very observational stuff with the best tracks being the first three and the last two, it slightlyfaltering part-way through with tracks like Breaks In The Journey and Quality Of LifeEnhancement Device being more ‘okay’ than essential, but all still worth a listen although I would’veliked another track that stood out as big as Hey Hey 16k. Great female backing vocals are alsoa noteworthy point about this CD.
For fans who want to hear more, put this disc in your PC and you’ll find it contains many additiona;demos and rare alternate tracks such as rehearsals.
Website:MJ Hibbett.com
The full track listing is as follows :
1. Tell Me Something You Do Like
2. Looking At My Hands
3. Better Things To Do
4. Girlfriend Alarmed
5. The Gay Train
6. Dino At The Sands
7. Breaks In The Journey
8. The Fight For History
9. Mental Judo
10. Quality Of Life Enhancement Device
11. The Lesson Of The Smiths
12. We Only Ever Meet In Church
13. Untitled
14. Dino At The Sands (slight return)Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2006.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.