Hup by The Wonderstuff

Hup, the Wonder Stuff's second album, came out on Polydor in 1989, and it's the Stourbridge band stretching the guitar pop of The Eight Legged Groove Machine into rowdier, rootsier shapes. Miles Hunt writes and sings, Hunt and Malcolm Treece work the guitars, Martin Gilks drums, and newcomer Martin Bell is the wild card: his fiddle and banjo were bolted onto "Golden Green" after it began life as a plain electric guitar-and-percussion number, and "Unfaithful" drops the drums entirely for strings and acoustic guitar.

"Don't Let Me Down, Gently" is the snotty, hummable pick, a number 19 hit in the UK, and "Golden Green" followed it to 33. "Piece of Sky" was lined up as the next single until Rob Jones left the band in December 1989 and the plan fell apart. "Radio Ass Kiss" shows off Hunt's lip in the title alone. Never Loved Elvis came next.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.