What is the most Northern album ever recorded?
Posted by TruvaliHelen@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 263 comments
It occurred to me that when people list examples of quintessentially "English" music, these lists tend to be dominated by acts that are very Southern, or specifically very London (The Kinks, The Jam, The Clash, Blur, Lily Allen, Kate Bush, list goes on). What are the most Northern England-signifying albums ever recorded? Ideally not just iconic music from Northern England, but music that specifically attempts to evoke Northern England in lyrics and sound (although I gather that most of these will be specifically Mancunian or Yorkshire-coded or Geordie or Scouse or what-have-you rather than generalized to the North as a whole).
I'm thinking maybe:
- Lindisfarne, Fog on the Tyne
- The Housemartins, London 0 Hull 4
- The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour
- The Mekons, So Good It Hurts The Wedding Present? The KLF? Who am I missing??
Maverick_Heathen@reddit
A Different Class by Pulp
flexo_24@reddit
Do they?
Arctic monkeys. New order. The smiths. Sam fender. Dire straits (arguably). Joy division. UB40. Oasis. Take that. Soft cell. The futureheads.
Trick-Station8742@reddit
Pj and duncan
Mroatcake1@reddit
Watch us wreck the mic, psyche!
Satyr_of_Bath@reddit
Ah you got me! I thought you were going to wreck the mic
The_Kwyjibo@reddit
The whole premise of the question is wrong. Liverpool (bands) has had more numbers ones than any other city (according to the Liverpool bus tour).
astromech_dj@reddit
Beatles.
The-all-seeing-pie@reddit
Extra point for mentioning the Futureheads
blissnabob@reddit
Let's get maximo park in there too!
ozz9955@reddit
I saw a gig with the futureheads, maximo park and field music - all northern, all awesome.
LeftSaidTed@reddit
Aw man…assuming 2005 2006ish? My hay day!
Deadsuooo@reddit
Can I chip in with The Music from Leeds?
ultimatewooderz@reddit
Seriously amazing band, The Music (the album) has got to be one of the most under rated. So good
adavescott@reddit
Kaiser chiefs
adavescott@reddit
Black sabbath, slade,
flexo_24@reddit
Correct. My apologies
flexo_24@reddit
Ah oh oh oh oh ohhhhhh
LupercalLupercal@reddit
Aren't Human League from Sheffield too?
SaccharineDaydreams@reddit
And Def Leppard!
Astonishingly-Villa@reddit
I feel like I've woken up in a world where the Beatles doesn't exist.
rocketscientology@reddit
Stone bloody Roses!
_pankates_@reddit
Thank you for including Take That - they're very proudly Northern, heck they've got a song Mancunian Way.
lovely-luscious-lube@reddit
And that’s without even mentioning the Beatles!
StatisticianOwn9953@reddit
Yeah. Big ouch.
Fucking southerners, honestly.
DeemonPankaik@reddit
Not too mention the Beatles.
Plus all of the rock/metal bands from Birmingham
DeemonPankaik@reddit
Not too mention yknow, the Beatles.
Plus all of the rock/metal bands from Birmingham
Candid-Bike-9165@reddit
Blyth power have songs from all across the uk
Haunting_Revenue_924@reddit
Some of the maximo park stuff was pretty geordie Apply some pressure maybe?
Joshp1471@reddit
Arctic Monkeys first album is full of Sheffield references, not to mention the accents
spongey1865@reddit
That was my first thought "Whatever People Say, That's What I'm Not"
Featuring lines like "You're not from New York City you're from Rotherham"
Just oozes northerness and I think it's their best album by a distance still
D0wnb0at@reddit
“Sticking to the floor” was about Corp nightclub.
“Scummy man” or “when the sun goes down” (they renamed it) is about yellow arch practice rooms which is in the middle of the red light district. Which is “over the river going out of town”
a_hirst@reddit
Kelham Island is a bit different now compared to back when they wrote that one. Some bits of Neepsend are still a bit shit, but it's nothing like it used to be.
cheeze_and_bacon@reddit
it’s even worse now with all the parking restrictions. Absolutely killed the area.
a_hirst@reddit
It's one of the most thriving areas in Sheffield. No idea what you're talking about.
cheeze_and_bacon@reddit
It was. Now the new parking restrictions has killed trade with local business.
D0wnb0at@reddit
Yeah its had a real glowup over the last decade or so, used to be a right shithole and the only reason it was worth visiting was Fat Cat or band practice at Yellow Arch. But now they injected loads of money into the area and made it look fairly good. I also hear Yellow Arch is also a pub now as well as practice rooms.
Fancy-Professor-7113@reddit
I used to live on Hawley Street, I liked Neepsend when it was shit. It was cool
knityourownlentils@reddit
Red light district is now a nice, gentrified area. You could not have predicted it 20 years ago, it was a no-go zone.
thehappyhobo@reddit
Agree. I think no album has captured that feeling of late adolescence better, the combined affection for and frustration with the small world that you’ll soon have lost forever.
Greendeco13@reddit
The first line is from Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, a film based on a book written by Alan Sillitoe and set in the Raleigh factory in Nottingham. The main character Arthur Seaton says it.
IOnlyUpvoteBadPuns@reddit
Pretty ironic line, as it turned out!
imminentmailing463@reddit
"it's High Green mate, via Hillsborough, please"
yolo_snail@reddit
The issue being Sheffield is most definitely midlands
The-all-seeing-pie@reddit
Pardon? Google maps is your friend here.
yolo_snail@reddit
Yep, I've consulted Google maps and it's most definitely midlands, it's nowhere near the fucking north!
Playful-Salamander-1@reddit
This is the bravest statement I’ve heard in ages.
yolo_snail@reddit
Those pesky southerners need to learn some hard truths.
marknotgeorge@reddit
So according to southerners, Sheffield's in the Midlands, but Derby's in the North. Righto...
mkmike81@reddit
I think you'll find it is very far north of Watford Gap!
The-all-seeing-pie@reddit
Cool, I suggest you take a trip to inform the good people of Sheffield in person that they are now no longer Northerners. See how that pans out.
imminentmailing463@reddit
This guy: "actually my good fellow, Sheffield and Yorkshire aren't in The North"
Sheffielder: raises eyebrow, clenches fists
oktimeforplanz@reddit
Exactly what my Sheffield native partner did when I read this to him.
jonrosling@reddit
Followed by "As tha got beef wi me?“
The-all-seeing-pie@reddit
Where’s next on this tour, quick stop off in Derry to educate them on why it should be referred to as Londonderry perhaps?
noseysheep@reddit
It's not worth talking to the delusional
2xtc@reddit
You're fucking blind if you've looked at a map and decided Sheffield is in the midlands. It's in bloody Yorkshire!
Similar_Quiet@reddit
Only just, and parts of it were in Derbyshire only a century ago.
Sheffield, capital of the north midlands.
MissingScore777@reddit
Nah Sheffield is considered the most southerly city in the North (on the East side at least anyway).
The border to the Midlands is just immediately South of Sheffield.
For example Derby is definitely Midlands and is only 40miles South of Sheffield.
Mammyjam@reddit
In all fairness some people try to argue that because it’s in Derbyshire Glossop in in the midlands and that’s North of Sheffield (and Liverpool for that matter)
Those people are wrong but still…
Albert_Herring@reddit
Sheffield is just the Midlands in denial.
Walkerno5@reddit
We don’t fucking want them, you have them
Albert_Herring@reddit
We have to share a region with Derby, they're not that bad.
Bad_UsernameJoke94@reddit
I suggest we give Derby to the West Midlands and share Sheffield with t'north
TheHudsini@reddit
As a northerner I’d agree. It is rather southern to us.
mr-seamus@reddit
Sheffield is practicality France.
mr-seamus@reddit
Sheffield is definitely southern by proper northern standards.
GreatBigBagOfNope@reddit
Absolutely master baiting
imminentmailing463@reddit
That's a wild take!
geoakey@reddit
The Reytons is like the Arctic Monkeys if Alex Turner failed GCSE English
astromech_dj@reddit
Plus, you can’t get further north than the Arctic!
CoffeeandaTwix@reddit
I remember years ago trying to explain to an old girlfriend who was a non-native English speaker how it was possible for a Northern man to rhyme 'something' with 'stomach' in When the Sun Goes Down.
Off the same album "Likes her gentleman to not be gentle/Was it a mecca dauber or a betting pencil" is one of the great modern British lyrics IMO.
OmariZi@reddit
That's off the next album, but yes!!
meringueisnotacake@reddit
My favourite:
Oh, he might wear classic Reeboks
Or knackered Converse, or tracky bottoms tucked in socks -
All of that's what the point is not,
The point is there in't no romance around here.
jtothemofudging@reddit
We can chuck The Last Shadow Puppets in there as well
lewisw1992@reddit
Sheffield isn't in the North. It's literally in the centre of England.
QOTAPOTA@reddit
Still one of my favourite albums from any band.
purplechemist@reddit
Are we limited to English acts? Because this is an “ask UK” board :-)
How about “Sunshine on Leith” (Proclaimers)
“Skerryvore” by, uh, Skerryvore (after the lighthouse on the rock of {checks notes} Skerryvore)
Literally anything by Runrig.
scalectrix@reddit
Manic Street Preachers. Proclaimers, Simple Minds - this is too easy. Almost as if OP's premise was nonsense.
stewieatb@reddit
MSP are Welsh...
scalectrix@reddit
Yes that was my point. British - see the comment I'm replying to 🙂
_higgs_@reddit
Boards of Canada stuff sounds like it comes from Scotland to me.
notouttolunch@reddit
Yes. Because that’s what the original message said. Whilst we’re introducing different countries let’s have Iceland and include Bjork and Mugison.
England.
HAMforPastry@reddit
Throw in Blue Nile - Hats, Primal Scream - Screamadelica & Jesus & the Mary Chain - Psychocandy
catsaregreat78@reddit
Chucking in Peat and Diesel - Uptown Fank!
Thestolenone@reddit
The album Doin' the Manch by Cockersdale is all West Yorkshire themed folk songs.
soopertyke@reddit
The Charlatans
Global_Acanthaceae25@reddit
Mostly from wednesbury in Midlands
Ok-Treacle8973@reddit
North country booooyyyyyy
TSC-99@reddit
Kaiser Chiefs
Chris Rea
Hamking7@reddit
No mention of the Lancashire Hotpots yet?
Top-Bet1435@reddit
Sam Fender shows his Geordie roots and upbringing in many of his songs. “I was far too scared to hit him, but I would hit him in a heartbeat now.” Is a lyric we can all relate to wherever you’re from.
bobble173@reddit
Howdon Aldi Death Queue ! I can definitely relate to that haha
Hamking7@reddit
Get off the metro noooooow!
0ttoChriek@reddit
From his first album, The Borders and Dead Boys are written with a keen eye for northern, working class culture.
Phenomenomix@reddit
Leave Fast is the best song about growing up in shitty dead-end North Eastern town there ever has been
Top-Bet1435@reddit
He’s a breath of fresh air in music. Not particularly revolutionary in any way but it’s nice to get a modern musician who isn’t secretly posh or the son of a celebrity.
phantom_phreak29@reddit
The album by teenage fanclub -songs from northern bristsin
MILKoftheNUTT@reddit
Oasis, definitely maybe. Manc af
69Whomst@reddit
To me what's the story morning glory by oasis is very northern, and also one of my favourite albums ever, but I'm a midlander so I may not be well placed to judge. I think the streets' original pirate material is very midlandy if that counts.
sneakyblurtle@reddit
Honorary mention for Stornoway having the most northern name despite not being northern at all!
Agreeable_Fig_3713@reddit
lol actual Stornoway has a great music scene too.
Breakwaterbot@reddit
Peat and Diesel are one of my current favourites.
Substantial_Monk_@reddit
No Gerry cinnamon mention???
Prudent_Ad1631@reddit
The Smiths - ‘The rain falls down on a humdrum town…’
jamnut@reddit
Morrissey's Every Day is Like Sunday springs to mind, genuinely thought what you posted was a lyric to it. Could be about any forgotten seaside town up north
Apple2727@reddit
Rusholme Ruffians
Top-Bet1435@reddit
Each household appliance, is like a new science in my town.
Ayyyyylmaos@reddit
I mean… Arctic monkeys and Oasis aren’t very southern 🤣
You’ve also got the Beatles as well.
Gr1msh33per@reddit
Anything by New Order or Joy Division.
RevolutionaryPace167@reddit
Joy Divion , my local town, with The Macc Boys
94cg@reddit
I’m surprised to not see Elbow mentioned.
I grew up in Bolton and went to college in Bury, subsequently left the UK and Elbow are my homesick listen.
So familiar and such a clever northern turn of phrase.
Same could be said for Richard Hawley too.
RevolutionaryPace167@reddit
I ve mentioned them a little further up
SaltyName8341@reddit
Macc lads whichever album has mucky duck or anything by the Lancashire hotpot s
RevolutionaryPace167@reddit
I was going to mention my home boys, but I thought that they would be too niche
willcodefordonuts@reddit
Haven’t seen anyone mention the beautiful south yet
RevolutionaryPace167@reddit
Are. The Hoise Martins were mentioned....
cheebifred@reddit
Pretty much anything from Kate Rusby I guess? She's Barnsley born and bred and her cover of "village green preservation society" sounds very northern
RevolutionaryPace167@reddit
And up on the Yorkshire Moor, with Cathy and Heathcliff
Accurate_Till_4474@reddit
Well done for mentioning Kate Rusby without using the place name Penistone.
cheebifred@reddit
Cheers, Barnsley sounds more Nirthern anyway haha
wyzo94@reddit
Sleaford mods. Although Nottingham is only Northern if you like proper south
Overseerer-Vault-101@reddit
The joy of being Devonshire, you're all bloody Northerners.
RevolutionaryPace167@reddit
So true , my Devonian kin
OccidentalTouriste@reddit
Beer & Sex & Chips n Gravy by the Macc Lads. Referencing Chips and Gravy must score some Northern points.
Cautious_Frosting_24@reddit
Knutsford Scabby Women.
RevolutionaryPace167@reddit
😅😆😁
Toffeemanstan@reddit
Not sure it gets any more northern than this.
kylehyde84@reddit
Sweaty Betty used to play for Wigan at the back of the scrum
RevolutionaryPace167@reddit
Elbow, lots of Northern references in the earlier albums.
farfetchedfrank@reddit
Never mind The Hotpots by The Hotpots
Daisy_bumbleroot@reddit
In that case the Barsteward Sons of Val Doonican get a mention, singing about Gravy, Tarnlife and Lady in Greggs
PrognosticateProfit@reddit
This should be the top comment. Literally entirely about being northern and from Lancashire. I want a chippy tea....
UnacceptableUse@reddit
The Lancashire Hotpots
funkyg73@reddit
Chippy tea!
Shoddy_Juggernaut_11@reddit
The Fall - grotesque or totales turns
Soldier0fortunE@reddit
The Verve.
kebabby72@reddit
John Cooper Clarke, you don't get much more northern than that.
Maicka42@reddit
Dire straits
Collooo@reddit
I'd say northern bands would dominate more.
However, it's just a limited opinion.
60sstuff@reddit
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was specifically made to reference many aspects of “Northern English” life. The floral clock and marching band in the grandstand where specifically mimicking Northern life. Also Strawberry fields to me conjures up cold mornings in the cold Liverpool hills
Galifrey99@reddit
4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
WarWonderful593@reddit
Anything by Half Man Half Biscuit but probably
'Voyage to the Bottom of the Road'
The Fall 'The Frenz Experiment' which has the song 'Hit the North'
AccuratelyHistorical@reddit
Came here to say Half Man Half Biscuit
scalectrix@reddit
and the Macc Lads
Typical_Efficiency_3@reddit
Me too HMHB all the way. Or in fact the tribute band It Ain’t Half Biscuit
Charming_Weakness523@reddit
they’re in sheffield soon and all 🙏
Professional_Pace928@reddit
Fog on the Tyne - Lindisfarne.
RevolutionaryMail747@reddit
Jake bugg.
wykah@reddit
I would have gone with MC Pitman, although he's only as far north as West Midlands.
PM-ME-UR-KNICKERS@reddit
The Verve A Northern Soul
Electus93@reddit
How is this not top, it's in the bloody title
gympol@reddit
New Model Army. Thunder and Consolation, for a specific album. It calls London 'the land of gold and poison'
overisin@reddit
Welcome to the North by The Music
R2-Scotia@reddit
I'll see your N England, and raise you Runrig (founders from Skye)
bopeepsheep@reddit
Mànran have two Orcadians, though I think the founders are slightly southern by comparison.
LeftSaidTed@reddit
Would like to raise you Gnoss but I think they have a similar island/mainland composition (and share one musician!)
bopeepsheep@reddit
They do. And when I saw Mànran in Kirkwall earlier this year, he was in Somerset! Tch.
LordGeni@reddit
Happy Mondays - It's great when you're straight, yeah.
Azzaphox@reddit
The Stone Roses???
thehairblairbunch9@reddit
Don't know why I had to scroll so far to find this!
Ok-Treacle8973@reddit
Mental
Appropriate-Bad-9379@reddit
The Hollies…
Only-Palpitation-666@reddit
Anything by The Fall. This Nation's Saving Grace, or Shiftwork would be a good couple to start with.
MMSTINGRAY@reddit
Anything by The Fall.
imminentmailing463@reddit
The Courteeners, St Jude
Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am...
Pulp, Different Class
BlakeC16@reddit
I don't want to be controversial and might regret saying this, but I think that while Pulp are obviously a Sheffield band, Different Class is a London album. Or at least a "Northerner in London" album.
TruvaliHelen@reddit (OP)
I was debating this when I made my post! Common People seems very obviously to be about London, but apparently Mis-Shapes is about being intimidated by Sheffield blokes... so hard to say
BlakeC16@reddit
Yeah, there's Bar Italia as well, and from the top of my head mentions of Camden Town and Ladbroke Grove too. Though all seen through a Sheffield lens, I suppose.
ALA02@reddit
Heard on the pirate radio what was going down, got the tickets of some fucked up bloke in Camden Town
imminentmailing463@reddit
I think its northernness is very key to it. They may have been in London but their northernness runs through that album.
imminentmailing463@reddit
I think its northernness is very key to it. They may have been in London but their northernness runs through that album.
LupercalLupercal@reddit
Stone Roses, Cast, The Police, The Fall, Buzzcocks...
awunited@reddit
Doves - M62 Song
The Charlatans - North Country Boy
Jimmy Nail - Waters of Tyne
Mulligan & O'Hare - Titty Biscuits
Gazza - Fog on the Tyne 😁
The_Big_Man1@reddit
Macc Lads.
nfyofluflyfkh@reddit
Lancashire Hotpots, including the classic Chippy Tea
crumblingruin@reddit
It's a toss-up between "Sing As We Go" by Gracie Fields and "Bummed" by Happy Mondays for me.
bopeepsheep@reddit
Slightly scared by the potential mashup.
Straw8@reddit
"Welcome to the North"
Embarrassed-Pin7316@reddit
I am Kloot
_pankates_@reddit
No mention of Glasvegas yet so I have to throw them in. It's in the name - they're from glamorous Glasgow. And they sound it.
grgext@reddit
The Doves
https://youtu.be/kkAixcGIjcw?si=3QgRNReD6RAY4pNH
Shitelark@reddit
I have crossed the Mersey more times there than a Scouse Ferryman. Greetings from Didsbury.
Shitelark@reddit
"Teachers told us the Romans built this place. They built a wall and a temple in a edge of the empire garrison town. They lived and they died. They prayed to their gods, but the stone gods did not make a sound. And their empire crumbled till all that was left were the stones the workmen found."
Sting - All This Time, from The Soul Cages.
Implematic950@reddit
Somewhere on here there’s a word map showing where many of the uk bands come from in the cape of the uk, not an exhaustive list by any means but gives you an idea.
Implematic950@reddit
Somewhere on here there’s a word map showing where many of the uk bands come from in the cape of the uk, not an exhaustive list by any names but gives you an idea.
Academic_Air_7778@reddit
Teenage Fanclub - Songs from Northern Britain 😊
erritstaken@reddit
Anything by the Artic monkeys. That’s about as far north as you can get.
Snow_Almond@reddit
Sheffield?? The most southern part of the north?
erritstaken@reddit
No, the Artic. Joke meet snow, snow meet joke.
elom44@reddit
Seeing as this is AskUK and you’re talking about northern, I’m going to offer up the most northern of UK bands, Neon Waltz. They are from John O’Groats.
Seriously listen to Dreamers and tell me this is not one of the best indie songs of the last 20 years. It gives me chills every time I hear it.
Neón Waltz - Dreamers
(and I know you said England but I’m just ignoring that)
Pooper__nintendo@reddit
The answer has to be something by The Everley Pregnant Brothers. B.E.S.T., maybe?
DickBrownballs@reddit
This year's Mercury Prize winner - English Teacher, This Could Be Texas.
Fantastic generally, no hiding the northern accents and the constant Northern references in the songs that in no way feel forced or like people trying to put on the professional Northerner act. Great album, great band.
exc_osrs@reddit
Yard act - where's my utopia?
catfordbeerclub@reddit
Anything by the Houghton Weavers
bishsticksandfrites@reddit
Bring Me The Horizon for some Yorkshire for some nucore input to the post
ANUFC14@reddit
The reytons are quite northern
pflarg@reddit
A little niche but 'The North stands for nothing' by while she sleeps is a cracker...
Though 'whatever people say I am' by arctic monkeys is up there...
blablablasphemous@reddit
The Oldham Tinkers
andyone1000@reddit
Chris Rea-Stainsby Girls, Steel River
Ranoni18@reddit
Definitely Maybe.
DeemonPankaik@reddit
Seeing as it's AskUK, the proclaimers are pretty northern
bulls9596@reddit
I would argue it’s the opposite. Oasis. Stone roses. The Beatles. Arctic monkeys. The smiths. The list goes on
DeemonPankaik@reddit
Seeing as it's AskUK, the proclaimers are pretty northern
sunlitupland5@reddit
Prefab Sprouts Memphis to Langley park comes to mind, (because I'm quite old and it's a great album... there's no shortage of music from the north of England.
Personal-Listen-4941@reddit
Oasis - what’s the story morning glory. Practically the soundtrack for Manchester
LochNessMother@reddit
KLF? It may be because I associate Bill Drummond with The Foundry and Gimpo and driving round the M24 for 24 hours, but there’s something very London about KLF. (Not southern, or English, just London)
FatherBuzzCagney@reddit
Crocodile Shoes.
The Eurythmics average out somewhere in northern England or southern Scotland.
Sam Fender
Katatonic92@reddit
Sam is incredibly northern, he's from North Shields, in the North East, Manchester & Liverpool are southern to us lol.
Katatonic92@reddit
Sam is incredibly northern, he's from North Shields, in the North East, Manchester & Liverpool are southern to us lol.
Grantus86_@reddit
The Cribs for sure
abradubravka@reddit
How to look way too long for these. Iconic northern band.
FreezerCop@reddit
The Unthanks.
Also, nice to see The Lovely Eggs, Half Man Half Biscuit and The Fall all mentioned already.
Double_Jab_Jabroni@reddit
Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper
A cripple walks amongst you, All you tired human beings, He’s got all the things a cripple has not, Two working arms and legs, And vital parts fall from his system, And dissolve in Scottish rain, Vitally he doesn’t miss them, He’s too fucked up to care.
RIP Scott
PeacefulBiscuit@reddit
Welcome to the North by The Music
fleckney7@reddit
The Enemy - We'll Live and Die in These Towns
ZePanic@reddit
Coventry?
ChristyMalry@reddit
'The N.W.R.A.' by the Fall. The north will rise again, but it will turn out wrong.
flyingteapott@reddit
The Lovely Eggs are wonderfully northern. Give them a listen.
ButtercupBento@reddit
Brilliant band. Love them
My_Knee_is_a_Ship@reddit
I mean....the Proclaimers were pretty northern sounding.....
charlesmunkin@reddit
Anything by The Fall.
Accurate_Till_4474@reddit
Anyone mentioned Merry Hell yet? Or their predecessors The Tansads, their album Shandyland is very northern. “Chips and egg would make them high, But God has poked them in the eye”.
butineurope@reddit
Yeah, music journalists are always banging on about Lily Allen and ignoring Oasis and the Beatles.
ClevelandWomble@reddit
Well, Fog on The Tyne has to be up there.
CrimpsShootsandRuns@reddit
Really? These lists you're seeing aren't including Oasis, The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, Blue or a myriad of other quintessentially British bands from the north?
ridiculouspockets@reddit
The gothic metal bands Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride are both from West Yorkshire and have always sounded quintessentially northern to me. Think windswept moors and misery.
jungleddd@reddit
Anything by John Shuttleworth, The Macc Lads or The Unthanks.
graeme_1988@reddit
The Smiths are probably the biggest, but The Futureheads need a shout. Hard to get more northern / authentic!
Honorable mention too for Field Music, reminding everyone that us Northerners have more to us than grit
MoveOutside3053@reddit
Artic monkeys first album
Zealousideal-Ad-2728@reddit
Lah-di-dah - Jake Thackray
Smooth voice and northern wit
rcp9999@reddit
The Macc Lads - live at Leeds
MisterBeeYouSee@reddit
Anything by The Lovely Eggs 🙌
Competitive-Ad-5454@reddit
I'd go for either Dragnet by The Fall or Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division. They really capture the miserable, hopeless, aesthetic of Northern England in the late 70s.
Dirk_diggler22@reddit
Natural history- I am kloot Pulp -his and hers
InfiniteBaker6972@reddit
Does ‘Back in the DHSS’ by Half Man Half Biscuit count?
Lunaspoona@reddit
Most have been mentioned but I would like to add Jamie Webster to the list.
LION_ROBOT_MUMMY@reddit
The Blackout Crew, Time 2 Shine
dobber72@reddit
Chris Rea - Shamrock diaries.
Hotusrockus@reddit
Something by either the Lancashire Hotpots, the Macc Lads or George Formby
whypaul1@reddit
Mark Knopfler - Why Aye Man
Agitated-Tourist9845@reddit
The Macc Lads - Beer&Sex&Chips&Gravy
EllisReviews_@reddit
The Smiths and The Housemartins are probably the most northern bands in opinion. Working class wit
mattjimf@reddit
The Unthanks - Here's the Tender Coming
Martipar@reddit
>The Mekons, So Good It Hurts
That's a very rude term for Morrisey, funny as hell, but also rude. Keep it up.
I don't know what constitutes "Northern" music as i don't notice any real north/south divide with sound unless it's something like Fog on the Tyne, Ferry Across the Mersey or Waterloo Sunset. Songs like Village Green, War Pigs, Raise the Dead or Hurdy Gurdy Man could come from anywhere in the UK. In fact I often don't really bother with where a band comes from, they could be British, German, Finnish and while there are some elements to the music that are relatively common in some countries there are just as many bands that don't sound that way take XII Boar for example.
TruvaliHelen@reddit (OP)
hahaha there are probably ruder words one could use for Morrissey than that! (the mekons are fantastic though if you haven't heard them, I especially recommend "Fear & Whiskey")
exitstrats@reddit
Maximö Park haven't been mentioned, so I'll throw them in the mix. A Certain Trigger was the anthem for me as a teenager in Newcastle.
fixy5570@reddit
Maximo Park
alexwhit80@reddit
The Lancashire hot pots.
No-Agent3916@reddit
Pitman
zipolightning123@reddit
Surely the most famous quintessentially English band of all time would be the Beatles, and they’re very definitely not southern.
LadyMirkwood@reddit
Back in the DHSS by Half Man Half Biscuit
Unfair_Original_2536@reddit
911 from Carlisle
DifferentWave@reddit
CSI Ambleside
blurdyblurb@reddit
I think everything 'quintessentially English' comes from the South or London..as someone from the North of England I think that's why I've identified as British rather than English. Anyhow, what about the Housemartins. Loads of other northern groups of course 😄
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Sleaford Mods?
lardarz@reddit
Prefab Sprout - From Langley Park to Memphis
OccidentalTouriste@reddit
Revenge of the Goldfish by the Inspiral Carpets.
Top-Bet1435@reddit
Oasis-first two albums Arctic Monkeys- also their first two albums
Ziphoblat@reddit
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Mammoth_Welcome6783@reddit
Reverend and the Makers are very northern.
DW_555@reddit
Dunno about album, but surely Geordie In Wonderland by The Wildhearts has to be a contender for most northern song.
HopeWolfie18@reddit
Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles… List is endless!
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