‘Why, Coventry!’ I exclaimed. “I was born here.’

On the day that the latest Radiohead record, The King of Limbs, was released, I also had, palmed into my hand, the newest album from The Vichy Government. This was in a London side-street, just off the Coliseum, during one of Parsifal’s many intervals. It was the singer himself, Mr. Jamie Manners, who made the exchange and, with less warning and more secure delivery than the Radiohead release, my excitement about Coventry was much the greater.

Named after keyboardist, Mr. Andrew Chilton’s favourite Cathedral city, Coventry is the fourth in a long line of three Vichy Government records.

With The King of Limbs, the done thing was to live-blog one’s first experience of the record. I was on holiday at the time and hardly in any position to live-anything. Even if it were possible, I would have been immediately too late: it had been live-blogged to death. Luckily, I had Coventry secreted in my luggage when I arrived home; I hadn’t listened to it yet and, well I imagine, neither had anybody else. I live-blogged it instantly, by which I mean I mumbled things to the cat as we wandered through the empty house, listening to the record quite loudly. The cat was kind enough to record everything as soon as she returned.

Turn On, Tune In, Vote Mugabe
“Their cocks are glistening with pre-cum as they line us up against a wall”… “As the youthful idiots go marching through the streets, Lenin looks down from his balcony and nods”… vile homophobic screed directed at The Kremlin gay bar in Belfast, with its fiberglass statue of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin on the balcony over the door. Disgraceful propaganda for notorious homophobe Robert Mugabe.

Flytipping
“Flytipping deserves a quiet night.” Like the titular activity, the songwriting here consists of dumping dated odds and sods on an otherwise beautiful setting, that is pop cultural references on what appears to be the backing of Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac.

The Nudes of Modigliani
Mr. Manners is at his best when dissecting the ways in which men look at women: The Male Gaze from Whores in Taxis. This is also good.

The Kids in North Korea
Orientalism, based on the premise that the experiences of the children of North Korea will somehow be different to those of us in the West. Lazy exoticism; Edward Said furious! Has music not progressed since Claude Debussy?

Siberia
Using the same conceit as Mr. Momus’ A Lapdog, Mr. Manners uses exile to tundra as a metaphor for absence. “Siberia is wherever your face and voice are not” Your arse?

All the Young Dudes
Having heard this one too many times at a Christmas party, I am now immune to its charms. Now, Arthur, stop that! Stop scratching the settee! Bad cat.

St. Jamie of Islington
Mr. Manner’s teetering conversion to Catholicism has been en point and on the edge for years now. Like many of the finest Catholics, though, it is purely aesthetic.

Oranges are the Only Fruit
An imaginary present in which post-modernism prevails and homogeneity is the only option. The only heterodoxy permissible is in sexuality, which, of course, results in Ms. Winterson being heterosexual herself, which means that she never writes Orange are not the Only Fruit and Mr. Manners is never inspired to write the song.

I’m Jack
Unusually polished production for The Vichy Government. Arthur, stop it. Stop it. Now stop.

The Man Delusion
No! Bad cat. Fine! Get out. Get out. Through the door. Go on. Go on then!

Iberia
Bloody thing. I don’t know why I put up with you, really I don’t. Why, if you were only four feet taller, I’d… Why, I’d… Get out! And don’t come back! O, a clarinet?

We are Now at War with Germany
No record.