Search - Housemartins :: London O Hull 4

London O Hull 4
Housemartins
London O Hull 4
Genres: Alternative Rock, International Music, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (16) - Disc #1

The band whose alumni went on to both the Beautiful South and (improbably) Fatboy Slim was a lot more like the former. Paul Heaton's laconic songs are nicely groomed and innocuous-sounding, with a happy jangle and rich har...  more »

     

CD Details

All Artists: Housemartins
Title: London O Hull 4
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Universal Japan
Release Date: 12/15/2007
Album Type: Import
Genres: Alternative Rock, International Music, Pop, Rock
Styles: Indie & Lo-Fi, Europe, Britain & Ireland
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 766487404044

Synopsis

Amazon.com
The band whose alumni went on to both the Beautiful South and (improbably) Fatboy Slim was a lot more like the former. Paul Heaton's laconic songs are nicely groomed and innocuous-sounding, with a happy jangle and rich harmonies (the group's interest in gospel extends to technique as well as sentiment), but there is a dryly vicious sense of humor lurking inside them--"Sheep" flips a familiar religious image on its back and leaves its legs waving in the air. London 0 Hull 4, the band's first album, is full of cheerful, taut little tunes about failures of the spirit, barstool sexism, and thermonuclear Armageddon--not to mention love of humanity, which underscored the fact that they weren't just nihilists, they actually cared. --Douglas Wolk

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CD Reviews

Don't let their cuddly exterior fool you.
Sheryl Weidner | Redmond, WA United States | 06/05/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Housemartins have a message and they're not afraid to put it plainly. Coming from the 1980s British society that fumbled its way through massive political shifts, they house vitriol in lyricism, like the chorus of "Flag Day" - "It's a waste of time, if you know what I mean / Try shaking your box in front of the Queen / 'Cause her purse is fat and bursting at the seams / It's a waste of time if you know what I mean." But they're equally willing to poke fun at themselves, as with the frenetic and thoroughly uplifting "We're Not Deep" - even though you know they took a page from Twain's warning against symbolism in "Huck Finn".The Housemartins remain my favorite "80s Nerd Alternative" band and will never go out of style in my house. I was reading Ayn Rand and Nietzsche while I was listening to "Get Up Off Our Knees", and the combined effect has lasted well into my adulthood.I originally owned this on cassette, and the CD includes several bonus tracks that make it worth every penny paid - most notably, the gospel/a capella rendition of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" that never fails to bring a tear to my eye while I'm belting along with it in the car. It's on tracks like "Heavy" that P.D. Heaton and his bandmates redeem themselves for the conniving way they've driving socialism deep into your brain with their pop hooks. At their core, the Housemartins are not about politics, they're about people, and their affection for humanity must be the root of the beautiful harmonies and charming pop melodies that put this album in my top 5 of all time."
House Martins..what have you done for me latley?
D. Van Langen | USA - Midwest | 11/10/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"A great band, if you love that 80's sound (I do), too bad there not still turning out the hits, great perspective on life!"