The Act: Bag Of Cans

The Release 'Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps 2'

The Format: DIGITAL EP

The 'Favourite Shirt’ EP Tracklisting:
1. Favourite Shirt
2. Brand New Car
3. Colchester Leisure World
4. Note People
5. Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps 2

The Big New Year's Eve Gig: NORWICH ARTS CENTRE, JANUARY 31ST 2024

Remember the good old 1980s? Splodgenessabounds do - at the start of that decade the pubpunk scallywags released ‘Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please’, the classic pained paean to lost last orders and beer-fuelled hunger. Rather excellently, rumour had it that main man Max Splodge wrote the song after a futile closing time bar safari at the Hope & Anchor in downtown Islington.

Fast forward some decades and, for reasons which will become alarmingly clear, fierce panda needed someone to haul ‘Two Pints…’ into the new century; a band who would run with the beery drama of the original and perhaps gently tweak the lyric to fit today’s slightly more exotic drinking environs - ‘Two Pints Of Over-Priced Craft Ale And A Packet Of Kettle Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Crisps Please’, perhaps.

That band was quite obviously Norwich noiseniks BAG OF CANS, a combo whose oeuvre already contained ‘Pub Money’, ‘Hair Of The Dog’ and, of course, the sad-faced Yuletide classique that is ‘Sorry Mum That I Was Hungover This Christmas’, all vividly available on their ‘We Are A Band’ album from 2023. The musical pubdate was a challenge they accepted instantly.

Bag of Cans duly ventured off to the Great Yarmouth coast to record their fervently zinging ‘Favourite Shirt’ EP, out on the panda on November 8th, with ‘Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please’ somewhere near the bottom of the agenda. What could possibly go wrong?

“What started out as an attempted cover morphed into something worse,” chuckle the Canners. “We set out to cover the original ‘Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps’, however when we were in the rehearsal room none of us had listened to the song or learnt any of the parts. We had a collective vague memory of the theme tune of re-runs of the sort of noughties evening TV comedy you’d watch with your mum, but that’s about it. We didn’t, however, let any of those drawbacks stop us from trying to play the song anyway and this odd unnecessary sequel has been birthed.”

And thrillingly unnecessary it is, too, with pithy references to scampi stout, nettle crisps and QR codes replacing good old fashioned cash, all wrapped up in a gleefully raucous pubpunk palaver of noise.

But ‘Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps 2’ (as it has been christened) is also thrillingly essential, as it represents the accompanying soundtrack to ‘Up The Packet’, the forthcoming book by fierce panda label boss Simon Williams. Is ‘Up The Packet’ about collecting crisp packets, savouring crispy pockets and searching for the very essence of the spirit of the rock’n’roll crisp, from the Hope & Anchor to the back of Beyoncé? Yes, yes it is.

Expect ‘Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps 2’ to appear on the ‘Favourite Shirt’ EP, released by fierce panda records on November 8th.

Expect ‘Up The Packet’ to be published by Damaged Goods Books in the spring of 2025