Product Description

On their second (and ultimately last) studio album, THE PEOPLE WHO GRINNED THEMSELVES TO DEATH, the Housemartins continued the style of R&B-influenced jangle pop they had developed on their debut. This time around they add horns and a generally more sober tone for a worthy follow-up to their brilliant debut album. That's not to say the band has lost its sense of humor--check out the goofy "Me and the Farmer". The Housemartins often use upbeat music to counterpoint the savagesocial criticism of their lyrics. The title track and "You'd Better Be Doubtful", for example, are scathing commentaries on Thatcherite England.
Standouts include "We're Not Going Back", which highlights Norman Cook's elastic bassline, the simultaneously funny and sobering "Five Get Over Excited", featuring Stan Cullimore's acoustic guitar and a horn-section fadeout, and "The World's On Fire", the record's best track, with its crunching rhythm section and Paul Heaton's acrobatic vocals. Following PEOPLE, the Housemartins called itquits. Cook went on to success as Fatboy Slim, while Heatonand drummer Dave Hemingway started the Beautiful South-a band that took their rollicking, upbeat music/searingly brutallyrics formula to extremes only hinted at here.

Track Listing

1. The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death
2. I Can't Put My Finger On It
3. The Light Is Always Green
4. The World's On Fire
5. Pirate Aggro
6. We're Not Going Back
7. Me And The Farmer
8. Five Get Over Excited
9. Johannesburg
10. Bow Down
11. You Better Be Doubtful
12. Build

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9853 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 37 minutes

Customer Reviews

I cant put my finger on..........
Why I love this album. Every song is a mini masterpiece from a band who were killed off just before the height of there powers.
Yes the band members that went on to greater things (messers Heaton, Hemmingway, Cook & collymore) and are still doing great things, but this album has a rawness and an urgency about it that the earlier London 0 Hull 4 lacked in certain respects and the present work is also missing. they have done a lot of growing up since this. Gone there seperate ways.
This album has a glimpse of what might have been.
A back looking crystal ball for Fat Boy Slim, The beautiful South, and the indie 80's socialist.
this is a clasic of the genre

Housemartins carrying on
The people who grinned themselves to death is another deceiving set of songs from Mr Heaton and friends. From the pacy title track to I cant put my finger on it through to the final track Build we have a set of songs that outwardly seem just an exercise in wordplay, when we examine what lies behind this exterior we find emotional depth, sincerity and truth coupled with some finely crafted tunes and melodies.
This is wonderufl stuff from the band, it is well produced, written and constructed and every track is an experience. Buy it, listen to it and then really listen to it, you wont have it off for months.