"Whatareya?" is a song by Australian

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band,

TISM TISM (an acronym of This Is Serious Mum) are a seven-piece anonymous alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia on 30 December 1982 by vocalist/drummer Humphrey B. Flaubert, bassist/vocalist Jock Cheese and keyboardist/vocalist Eu ...

, released in July 1998 as the third single from their fourth studio album ''

www.tism.wanker.com ''www.tism.wanker.com'' is the fourth studio album by Australian alternative rock group TISM (This Is Serious Mum), released in June 1998. The album peaked at number 26 on the ARIA charts. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1998, the album was nominate ...

''. "Whatareya?" peaked at number 66 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

Reception

Junkee Junkee is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to ...

said, "No song that starts with the words, 'I'm a wanker' repeated ad nauseum icdeserves to be this good. But that’s the thing about TISM — they’re masters of turning shit into diamonds, and vice versa, grubbying up the established norms of Australian rock and pop and making jokes about

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but h ...

seem like Shakespearean wordplay."

Video

The video was directed by

Craig Melville Craig James Melville is an Australian television comedy director. He is best known for his collaborations with comedians John Safran, Lawrence Leung and The Chaser. Filmography Television * ''Maximum Choppage'' Series Director (2015) * ''Th ...

and follows a scene very reminiscent of an early morning aerobics television show, ''

Aerobics Oz Style ''Aerobics Oz Style'' is an Australian aerobic exercise instruction television series, shown in Australia on weekends and then weekdays on Network Ten at then and distributed to many other countries. It was cancelled by Network Ten at the end ...

'' in which TISM are in the class. After a very short time the members of TISM are depicted as being quite fatigued with the exercise routine and take a rest – some members bring in a couch to sit on and a television to watch, meanwhile another member brings an

esky Esky was an Australian brand of portable coolers. The term "esky" is also commonly used in Australia to generically refer to portable coolers or ice boxes and is part of the Australian vernacular, in place of words like "cooler" or "cooler box" ...

of beer and a football is introduced, with some members playing a makeshift game of Australian football. All the while, the exercisers continue their work-out routine. It is not until the main exerciser (and presumably host of the show) knocks and spills one TISM members' beer, that the band becomes hostile towards the presenter, whom they drag to the ground and severely beat and kick as pandemonium overcomes the video, the director calls cut and a TISM member covers the camera lens with his hand, ending the clip.

Track listing

CD single (Genre B.Goode – GOO11) # "Whatareya" – 3:36 # "Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz... Untz..." – 3:22 # "I'd Be Happier if I Was More Depressed" – 3:28 # "Whatareya (Gratuitous Profanity Carelessly Slapped Into Verse With Spurious Artistic Merit and No Conceivable Motivation Other Than a Deliberately Perverse Desire to Shoot Oneself in the Foot-less Mix)" – 3:34

Charts

References

External links

* {{TISM Discography TISM songs Satirical songs 1998 singles