When in Rome, Kill Me is the debut album by the Leeds-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Cud Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More precisely, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the phy ...

and released through Imaginary RecordsAlbum details on Discogs
/ref> The album was recorded during March 1989 at the Woodhouse Studios in Leeds with Alaric Neville and

Richard Formby Richard Formby is a British musician, engineer and producer. As well as releasing his own solo music, he has been a member of various bands. Formby produced the albums ''Two Dancers'' (2009) and ''Smother'' (2011) by Wild Beasts, as well as ''Some ...

handling production.Diary entry from Cud bassist William Potter
/ref> Side 1 of the LP (first seven songs on CD) are linked by short narrative segments (narrated by Cud's drummer Steve Goodwin's landlord John Farrell and Elizabeth Cuthbertson as Bibi) such that the first half of the album loosely forms a single story. In this story, it is implied that the protagonist flees

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

after committing some undisclosed crime. There he is reunited with ''Bibi'', possibly an accomplice in the crime, with whom he sleeps, but the following morning he wakes to find Bibi has left and grassed him to the police. We leave the protagonist drunk in a bar, as police sirens approach, with him rueing, "I would have got away with it, if it hadn't been for those bastard, bastard meddling kids." "Only (A Prawn in Whitby)" was supposedly inspired by a chance encounter by Cud's manager with

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

. Allegedly, the vegetarian lead singer of the Smiths was seen partaking of a single prawn. The story is now accepted to be apocryphal. The album reached number three in the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

in 1989.Lazell, Barry (1998) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 55

Track listing

Side 1 - there are related comments to the narrative shown on the album and in brackets after each track) #"When in Rome, Kill Me" - 2.23 (He wasn't sure either! He was edging his bets.) #"Only (A Prawn in Whitby)" - 3.26 (Better make this one a single.) #"Bibi Couldn't See" - 3.01 (Myopic or biopic? Take your pick.) #"Strange Kind of Love" - 3.28 (Passions flair when the elocution gets tough, and the rough gets going.) #"Push and Shove" - 3.27 (The quality of Trugoy is strained.) #"Day Crime Paid" - 4.14 (That was the day, the day crime paid, that was.) #"When in Rome, Kill Me Again" - 1.02 (If you have stomachs.) Side 2 #"I've Had It With Blondes" - 4.29 #"Van Van Van" - 2.29 #"Vocally Speaking" - 3.38 #"Wobbly Jelly" - 1.50 #"Alison Springs" - 2.50 #"Epicurean's Answer" - 4.02 #"Bomba Boy" ''Available only on the 1992 CD version''. An expanded CD version (without Bomba Boy) was released through Cherry Red Records in 2007 and included previously unreleased bonus tracks #"Van Van Van" (BBC Radio Leeds Session) - 2.44 #"I've Had It With Blondes" (Demo) - 3.23 #"BB Couldn't C" (3rd John Peel Session) - 2.48 #"Strange Kind of Love" (Live BBC Sound City Sheffield) - 3.33 #"Alison Springs" (Unreleased Version) - 3.04 #"Only (A Prawn in Whitby)" (Carefree Sud) - 4.00 #"Starry Eyes" (Carefree Sud) - 2.03 #"Vocally Speaking/Wobbly Jelly" (Carefree Sud) - 5.13

Personnel

*Carl Puttnam – vocals *Mike Dunphy – guitars *William Potter – bass guitar *Steve Goodwin – drums

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:When In Rome, Kill Me 1989 debut albums Albums produced by Richard Formby Cud (band) albums Imaginary Records albums