www.tism.wanker.com is the fourth album by Australian alternative rock group TISM, released in 1998. The album title references an internetURL which, at the time of release, was a subdomain provided by a friendly person overseas who had registered wanker.com, as TISM were not able to obtain their preferred domain, wanker.com.au, due to Australian domain regulations. However, the web hosting fees were not paid, subsequently it was taken down by the hosting ISP several months after launch and has not been available since. Early editions of the CD featured a CD-ROM component. The program asks the user whether he or she wants to continue – repeatedly. Eventually, it responds "OK then. Downloading virus." No virus is actually downloaded; this is another example of the band's warped humour. The sleeve contains a choice of seven front covers for the album. Humorously, they are virtually identical, all consisting of a close up photo of an individual, masked, TISM member. Each is labelled with their name and states that they ' this should be the front cover'. It bears a resemblance to the cover of the album Dark Room by The Angels.
Themes
The album consists mainly of standard TISM songs, parodying popular culture and engaging in toilet humour. The album also demonstrates a "serious" attempt by the band to divide Australian male culture into two groups – "yobs" and "wankers". This is best demonstrated in the lyrics of the third single, "Whatareya":
You're a yob, or you're a wanker Take your fucking choice So who is your favourite genius James Hird or James Joyce?
The rest of the song continues in a similar vein, including such distinctions as "The wanker fights class prejudice/The yobbo...just fights." The theme and celebration of the bogan lifestyle is explored further on tracks such as "Dumb and Base" and "Yob". Other themes cross the safety of conformity, wasted potential and regret.
Singles
The first single released for the album was "Yob". The first video released for the album was for "I Might Be a Cunt, but I'm Not a Fucking Cunt", and is a parody of the Mimi Macphersonsex tape. Two other videos, "Whatareya?", featured the band on an Aerobics Oz Style-style television show and "Thunderbirds Are Coming Out" featured various bands of the day, such as 28 Days and Blood Duster.
Controversy
The release of the track "I Might Be a Cunt, But I'm Not a Fucking Cunt" as a single brought controversy back to TISM once again. The song and its accompanying music video of a couple having sex was banned by the SBS, ABC's rage, and Triple J due to its content; however, it was played quite frequently by Melbourne independent broadcaster 3RRR on the Breakfasters show. Bruce Ruxton, the head of the Victorian Branch of the Australian RSL, wrote a letter of complaint to Shock Records asking for TISM to be fired from the label, and describing the song as "...Dropping through the floor into the proverbial sewer". Ron Hitler Barassi of TISM responded to criticism in an interview:
Track listing
''Att: Shock Records Faulty Pressing Do Not Manufacture''
Initial pressings of the album were shipped with a bonus disc. The CD in question looks like a blank CDR, with texta writing that reads "Att: SHOCK RECORDS FAULTY PRESSING DO NOT MANUFACTURE"; thinking it was serious, some retail chains actually returned boxes of the "fake" CDs unopened. In reality, it featured a mixture of songs, poems and low-quality audio recordings of Hitler-Barassi and Flaubert discussing various topics whilst watching the Pamela Anderson/Tommy Lee sex tape. The "conversation" tracks have never been given an official title. For the iTunes re-release, these tracks were appended to the start/end of the titled tracks. The titles were available on TISM's website at the time.
Singles
"Yob"
"Yob" is the first single from TISM's 1998 album www.tism.wanker.com. It interpolates a sample of the song "Hawaiian Cowboy" by Sol K. Bright.
Song
One of the main themes on the album www.tism.wanker.com is the distinction between the two classes of males, the yobs and the wankers. This song details the "ingredients" which go into making up a yob. It basically lists the various things which a person can do and a following action to take on such an event, the action classifying the person as a yob if he indulges in these activities. A song titled "If They're Different, Punch", a variant of the first line of the song, is listed in the track list for a 1988 demo tape, Three Blake and a Dollar's Worth of Chips.
Track listing
A very slightly remixed version of track two was also released on Att: Shock Records Faulty Pressing Do Not Manufacture, the bonus disc which came on initial pressings of wanker.com. The version of "Yob" appearing on wanker.com is the 3:20 version, but with a different vocal track.
