Okay guys, let’s hear it for our man Sir Christopher Chope! Good ol’ Chris, who’s stalked this planet for over seven decades, blocked a UK bill that would have criminalized upskirting by shouting “Object!” during the bill’s second reading in the House of Commons. Now I’m hardly an expert on How a Bill Becomes a Law in my own country, much less in the inscrutable lands of the Old World, but if that was all it took to block a bill here our government wouldn’t get anything done. Not that they do anything worthwhile as it is, but to kill a proposed law our Senators and Congressmen are first required make several appearances on CNN and on the Sunday morning chat shows in order to cast personal aspersions on the bill’s sponsors. Only when a sufficient level of vindictiveness has been attained can the bill be downvoted.

To justify his blockage Sir Chris said, “The government has been hijacking time that is rightfully that of backbenchers. This is about who controls the House of Commons on Fridays and that’s where I am coming from.” I totally get where he’s coming from. Who wants to talk about taking photos of knickers on a perfectly good Friday afternoon? That sort of talk is reserved for Saturdays while watching Match of the Day. The #2 FAQ on the MOTD website: “Why is my team always on last?”

Gaffa Tape Sandy’s new single, “Meat Head,” addresses the guy-type behavior that makes folks like Sir Chris such endearing creatures or, to put it less satirically in Gaffa Tape Sandy’s own words, “‘Meat Head’ was written as an attack on the type of mind-sets people harbour which involve believing that they somehow own or have the right to the body of another person.” Apparently, this common-sense message hasn’t been easy to deliver. The digital release of “Meat Head” was almost delayed when “a male member of staff at the distributor” marked the cover art by Emily Allen (that fairly innocuous picture up at the top) as “nudity/pornography.” I can’t make this shit up, folks. And – huh-huh-huh – you said, “Male member.”

Gaffa Tape Sandy, based in Bury St Edmunds, an English village with charming pictures on Google, is Kim Jarvis (vocals, guitar), Catherine Lindley-Neilson (vocals, bass), and Robin Francis (drums, percussion). The band self-describes as a “three-piece garage rock band, spewing out glorified noise for your amusement only… Soft but abrasive, like a silk shirt with a sandpaper lining.” The initial release of “Meat Head” took place back in June; it is now available as a double-A side 7″ single, along with “Beehive,” from Antigen Records.

You can support deserving musicians like Gaffa Tape Sandy by visiting their Bandcamp page, listening to their songs, and downloading your favorite tracks. And be sure to follow Gaffa Tape Sandy on their website and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

And check out other releases from Antigen Records on their website, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Epilogue: A new upskirting bill is now wending it’s way through the UK system, with passage imminent. The revised bill also makes it a crime to upskirt a man wearing a kilt. Well, thank God for that.