Favorite Best-Of Albums: The Housemartins – Now that’s what I call quite good

In spite of being “odd birds even by English rock standards” (from the 1992 edition of the Rolling Stone Album Guide), the Housemartins may be the best band that almost no one on this side of the pond has ever heard of, a “sweet-voiced quartet whose albums blended gloriously melodic guitar pop with stridently moralistic lyrical invective. … [Their first LP] sheathes its political agenda in an almost irresistible string of melodies, casting the songs in such energetically tuneful terms that you almost don’t notice the pro-temperance message of ‘Happy Hour’ or the anti-conformity diatribe hidden within the lush harmonies of ‘Sheep’”.

 

This compilation pretty much has it all, with its 24 tracks pushing the limits of the CD medium at over 78 minutes. “Happy Hour” and “Every Day’s The Same” are the most upbeat musically; the former did get plenty of airplay on WHFS (and presumably on other similarly-progressive counterparts). “Flag Day” is the most biting and passionate, while “Caravan Of Love” and “He Ain’t Heavy” demonstrate what they could do with a capella renditions of songs originally written and performed by others; the former actually hit #1 in the UK. Despite the frequent bleakness of their lyrics, the band maintained a sense of humor: the liner notes for this compilation document the number of copies several of their singles sold in New Zealand (80 for “Sheep”), and the CD version of their first album features on its cover the phrase "16 songs – 17 hits!".

 

Trivia note: bassist Norman Cook went on to become much better known as DJ and producer Fatboy Slim.

 

Favorite Tracks:

Flag Day

Happy Hour

Caravan Of Love

Every Day’s The Same

Think For A Minute!

He Ain’t Heavy

Bow Down

Build

Hopelessly Devoted To Them

Sheep