The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death cover

The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death

Released

The Housemartins were a pack of contradictions: Marxist Christians who played irresistibly cheerful ditties about shooting capitalists and hating farmers (because they’re… bourgeois, I guess?), and who regularly put down their instruments to sing close-harmony a cappella gospel songs. Their debut album is a celebration of tight popcraft and political provocation that lays out the map for their subsequent work: clean guitars, melodic bass lines, Paddy Heaton’s adenoidal but strangely attractive singing voice — and hooks, hooks, hooks. Highlights include “I Can’t Put My Finger on It” and the utterly brilliant “You Better Be Doubtful.”

Rick Anderson

Recommended by

Suggestions
London Weekend cover

London Weekend

Another Sunny Day
Before Hollywood cover

Before Hollywood

The Go-Betweens
Stellar Motel cover

Stellar Motel

Mike Doughty
Bizarro cover

Bizarro

The Wedding Present
Fun Trick Noisemaker cover

Fun Trick Noisemaker

The Apples in Stereo
Dear Science cover

Dear Science

TV on the Radio