BOFF Whalley, a founder member of the anarchist pop group Chumbawamba, has an abiding fear of normality.

Not for him the suburban Sunday morning ritual of car washing. Rather Boff and fellow band members prefer to douse public figures in the name of political protest.

Chumbawamba are famous for:

u Their international hit Tubthumping, which was kept from the top of the British charts by Candle In The Wind - Elton John's career-reviving tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

u Drenching Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott with water from a champagne bucket at the Brit Awards during New Labour's "Cool Britannia" phase in 1998.

Boff prefers to regard these two events as mere footnotes in the colourful story of Chumbawamba.

His funny and irreverent autobiography examines the stultifying claustrophobia of life in the terraced streets of Burnley, a declining Lancashire textile town famous for its claret and blue football team. He writes about how punk rock and three guitar chords enabled him to escape his upbringing as a Mormon and live in a squat in Armley, the Leeds suburb famous for its jail.

Chumbawamba's experiment in community living revolved around eccentric characters having their say; rehearsing in a damp cellar; printing political leaflets; shoplifting; recording an eclectic array of music; touring; snatching sleep in cramped vans; and gigging.

Somehow, writes Boff, they kept the Chumbawamba char-a-banc on the road without selling their soul. When Chumbawamba did secure a lucrative record deal they gave cash donations to various groups.

Boff's vivid turn of phrase prevents Footnote* from becoming a plodding rock memoir.

The lively text is blighted, however, by Boff showing his ignorance when taking a needless swipe at the polar explorer Shackleton for sailing south at the outbreak of the First World War.

Updated: 09:08 Wednesday, September 10, 2003