Bloodhound Gang

One Fierce Beer Coaster, released in 1996, brought “Fire Water Burn” into the catalogue. The contrast between a relatively level vocal and a much larger chorus became a useful part of the group’s language. A refrain could feel communal even when the surrounding verses were built to provoke a raised eyebrow.

Hooray for Boobies followed in 1999. “The Bad Touch” takes the same detached vocal manner into a tight electronic dance setting, where the repeating bass figure and the vocal rhythm do much of the work. Its economy is important: the instrumental is memorable without needing the visual joke or the words to explain its appeal.

Hefty Fine in 2005, including “Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo”, returned to a more prominent guitar texture in places while keeping the cleanly outlined pop structures. The records vary their surface more than a brief description of the band’s humour might suggest. Rap phrasing, a blunt riff and a dance pulse can all provide different ways of delivering the same deadpan presence.

The humour is unmistakably of its own world and will not suit every listener. Musically, the useful question is how the arrangements make those performances travel. A good place to start is the movement from “Fire Water Burn” to “The Bad Touch”: one leans on the scale of a rock refrain, the other on the discipline of a loop. In both, a very recognisable delivery gives a short, efficiently built song its character.