The Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4

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 Amazon.com

Astounding work of staggering genius :)

]Okay, so maybe the Housemartins didn't set the world on fire with their first two albums. They disbanded around 1990 and went on to form other groups. But if you were around in the late 80s and listened to PD (Paul) Heaton's amazing vocals and the beautiful songs on this masterpiece, you most likely never forgot it. It's a shame that "Caravan of Love" their a capella stunner isn't on this album and is only available on "best of" compilations. Also, check out the Limited "Best of" Edition [[ASIN:B0001Z48MA The Best of the Housemartins], which includes a DVD of eight of their videos. The Martins are still funny, amazingly talented and socially relevant. They are the greatest band of the 80s that never became famous. Even The Smith's Morrissey is a fan of Paul Heaton. June 23, 2007

House Martins..what have you done for me latley?

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! November 10, 2006

Loved this one - but was disappointed with later releases

I absolutely love this album. There are only a couple of songs on here that I will skip over, and usually just to get to one of the others a bit sooner! Sarcastic, political commentary wrapped up in wonderful pop tunes. I was surprised that they didn't become any bigger than they did. But I am happy that they got together to produce London 0 Hull 4. I eagerly nabbed their second release, and was thouroughly disappointed with it. Maybe that explains part of why they didn't manage to stick together, though with a live BBC appearance in 2006 it looks like they might have gotten back together again! September 7, 2006

Don't let their cuddly exterior fool you.

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. June 5, 2003

Pure Pop

This is pop. 3 minute songs. Catchy melodies and memorable refrains. BUT it is not shallow. Good pop-songs take great skill to write. The Housemartins just said more so succinctly. Their music stands in stark contrast to so much other self-absorbed music with a message. And you can party to this music. When they were a pub band in the early eighties then they had no peers. It is one of life's great regrets that I never saw them in a smoky bar in Bristol (or Hull, or London) before Happy Hour made them nationally famous. Cheerful music that makes me think and makes me smile. November 20, 2001

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