Please please please give me some RIYLs for The Smiths...without mentioning any solo stuff or side projects of the band. or the Smoking Popes or the Potatomen.

Tedious arrangements, ass sex

self mutilation, ambiguous sexuality, latino bikers, and echo & the bunnymen

Gene (would be the obvious choice)

Orange Juice
The Dears
The Frank & Walters

are all good, and RIYL the smiths

and if you want to brave a more modern, almost "emo" take on the a smiths influence, you could try Nightmare of You. It's really not bad, and it's got ex-members of some pretty decent bands like Quicksand and The Movielife.

The Cure

RIYL: self-laceration, K-Tel easy listening compilations, and calves mewling in an open field

I dunno, I think The Cure and The Smiths are really pretty different from each other, although most people who like one do seem to like the other as well.

Orange Juice is a great rec.

also Echo & the Bunnymen

Gene are a practical imitation on The Smiths. 'Haunted By You' off Olympian is the best example, I think. There's probably some more Britpop bands that ape that sound and feel.

I've never really got The Dears as sounding like The Smiths. As for their contemporaries, I believe Echo is a better match than the Cure.

[quote="Drinky"]I dunno, I think The Cure and The Smiths are really pretty different from each other, although most people who like one do seem to like the other as well./quote]

Hence "RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE..."

Yeah, but it's more an odd phenomenon that seems to be based on the most superficial aspects of each band which is why I felt like pointing it out.

Oh, and probably Belle & Sebastian.

Voxtrot

This question is somethign I've asked and never gotten a decent answer for. Maybe Echo & the Bunneymen come closest. But my wife is a huge Smiths fan from way back and any time I try to be nice and get her anythying that people claim is recommended if you like the Smiths, she absolutely hates it...especially Belle & Sebastian.

Sorry, but I tend to think they were just unique enough that until you've scoured their catalog and grabbed the stuff from the individual members, looking anyplace else is gonna be more an exercise in futility than anything else.

Well, whether or not you can recommend anything to someone based on their favorite band really has more to do with whether or not that person really wants to discover any new music.

The Smiths ripped off Orange Juice quite extensively right down to Edwyn Collins haircut, although Morrissey and co purged the goofing around, school boy amatuerism of the OJ's which is probably why they were a lot more successful.

they sound nothing like echo or the cure.

RIYL: Orange Juice, Gene, James

James, The Lilac Time, Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera, Belle & Sebastian, Felt, Kings Of Convenience.

The Housemartins

The "London 0 Hull 4" album is a dead ringer for The Smiths.

*nods*

*nods again*

I'm thinking she might like Felt really well, though. Specifically Forever Breathes The Lonely Word. Also, maybe one or two Jazz Butcher albums.

/thread