Leeds, Leeds, Leeds

Mekons vs. Go4.

voted Mekons but looked for Vibracathedral Orchestra & Delta 5

WEDDOS~!

As usual jazz doesn't get a look in. Ever heard of Hession/Wilkinson/Fell, Leeds-based and one of the most incendiary free jazz power trios ever?

Girls At Our Best!, because Gang of Four don't need another vote. Honourable mention to the Weddoes. Delta 5, though?

Boyracer! Scritti Politti! But I'll take their absence if that's what it takes to also keep Chumbawamba off the pitch. Nobody's gonna vote for Abrasive Wheels, so I might have to. "Burn 'em Down" is pretty classic. But obviously Gang of 4 is the high-water mark.

This poll has absolutely no credibility without Hood, sorry

loll the first thing i thought scanning the list was 'where's hood?'

gonna vote for the parachute men instead

I'm gonna vote for someone crass in protest. How can you include the monuments to earlessness that are Hadouken! and The Pigeon Detectives, and leave out Hood? How?

Who?

Sorry about omission of Delta 5. It's a post-punk scandal.

I must own up to never having heard of Hood, though.

And I never knew Scritti were formed in Leeds. Always thought of them as a Camden squat band.

rectify that shit, they have an immense body of work with many many high points

xpost

Having investigated further I see Scritti didn't become Scritti until they moved to Camden, so that excusion is justified.

start here http://www.last.fm/music/Hood/Cabled+Linear+Traction

or here http://www.last.fm/music/Hood/Cold+House

or maybe here http://www.last.fm/music/Hood/The+Cycle+of+Days+and+Seasons

Thank you; will do.

IMO this is their most essential record: http://www.last.fm/music/Hood/Rustic+Houses+Forlorn+Valleys

Outside Closer also has some truly wondrous moments. But yeah. Search everything.

Hey, where is The Mission Spoonfed Hybrid?

age of chance of course

In Leeds Museum there's a couple of Soft Cell LPs on display to celebrate the city's music. My vote goes to the Lorries.

No Hood AND no Cavil ...

And no Bear.

It's not a poll of, you know, EVERY act that ever set foot in Leeds ... No Mr Peculiar either, and they released one single on Lust in 1989.

Oh, and Boyracer are from Wetherby, not Leeds.

Where the fuck are BILGE PUMP?

1) Mekons, 2) Wedding Present, 3) Pale Saints, for me.

(I'm not sure if any of them are actually 'from' Leeds, or if the groups just formed there out of students who'd come to Leeds)

All students (true of almost all those bands), but as long as group was formed in Leeds and based in Leeds for some part of their career, I'll take them.

I'm gonna vote for someone crass in protest. How can you include the monuments to earlessness that are Hadouken! and The Pigeon Detectives, and leave out Hood? How?

― HELLO MY NAME IS TWILIGHT AND I AM A DRACULA (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 29 December 2009 06:17 (12 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Who?

― sarahel, Tuesday, 29 December 2009 07:22 (11 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Actually, my current favourite musical argument is that Hood (folksy but very mysterious indie band) are England's national answer to Black Metal, especially from the mid-90's onwards. The comparison is extremely seductive.

― country matters, Monday, 27 July 2009 23:15 (5 months ago)

have seen Mekons play 25-30x, so...

Hood are great! The noisy early stuff like cabled linear traction, silent '88, and the ep with 'biochemistry revision can wait' have a special place in my heart. From this list I'll go for The Wedding Present.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBcNpXmr-Ps

Weren't LFO also students at Leeds when they met/started?

Why has a city of that size not produced more good groups?

It's done pretty nicely in the 00s at the "underground" toilet venue circuit level. Over the past decade I have immensely enjoyed Bilge Pump, Quack Quack, randomNumber and Chops, and I'm sure I'm missing a few. I have also tried hard to enjoy Vibracathedral Orchestra and on occasion managed it.

But from that list, it's between the Wedding Present and Gang of Four. Teenage nostalgia probably gives it to the Weddoes (that and the suspicion that Go4 don't need any help).

Between the Three Johns and the Sisters for me. Saw the Johns many times and they were always great, saw the Hussey-era sisters and they were just dull, but strangely, I find myself leaning towards the Sisters. Goth nostalgia and that initial run of EPs and singles.

Leeds underground has definitely been decent. I've made very little effort w/Vibracathedral and still really enjoyed them, Astral Social Club too. They get my vote.

Duh, Polaris

God, I've got a BIlge Pump single. A split seven inch of Modern Lovers covers. Completely forgot about them. Will definitely investigate Hood properly though, given the love they're getting on this thread.

Oh, and thought LFO were South Yorks. Certainly I was living in Leeds when they first started out, and they were always associated with the Leadmill rather than the Warehouse. Think Nightmares on Wax might have been Leeds, though I may be mistaken.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

gosh.
i wasn't alone.
re NoW : a leeds set up - they used to run the decks at the glorious Downbeat club in 86/87, and hang out with AoC before all the Warp stuff took off ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guHN65eNRL8

Quite a good feature in the Guardian about some of the above bands.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/19/pubs-disco-and-fighting-nazis-how-leeds-nurtured-british-post-punk .

i know the cribs are from wakefield but its like five minutes down the road! no mentions? truer than any toss gang of four ever put out...