London 0 Hull 4 - Housemartins

Cheeky chappies in crew cuts and tank tops have never stunned the music audiences. What did we have before? Haircut 100 in their slightly cheesy, too clean approach probably came close around the early eighties but it wasn’t until the Northern talents descended on us in the shape of The Housemartins that many sat up and took note. These people, who have now settled into their roller skates are gliding cheerfully towards middle age and are now perhaps, bashful at still owning London 0 Hull 4. This debut album still smells distinctly of those early local working man’s club days. Paving the way, although modestly for Paul Heaton’s re emerge in 1988 as the ...  Read the complete review

This is a remarkable album, especially when you think about the rest of the music scene was doing back in 1986, loads of glamorous groups with a keyboard led sound were dominating the charts. However the Housemartins were a traditional guitar group made up by four men who looked like students and lived in Hull. Despite mainly sticking to a guitar, bass and drums format with singer Paul Heaton sometimes playing guitar, harmonica or trombone, it is a very ambitious album, but unlike the usual rock experimentation with classical music, on some tracks the Housemartins refer to gospel music and soul. This may be central to the album's appeal but it is probably ...  Read the complete review