REVIEW: Northside Chicken Rhythms 2025 reissue

Put together these lofty ingredients; Larry Graham bass lines, Mark Day jagged guitar riffs, Paul Cook attacking precise drums, add a topping of exemplary lyrics, adored unique Mancunian rhyming statements and you have the utterly timeless blend of Northside.

Influenced by the sounds that were around their neck of the woods at the time of their founding in the late 1980’s, Warren ‘Dermo’ Dermody (vocals/lyrics), Cliff Ogier (bass), Paul Walsh (drums) and Tim Walsh (guitar – RIP) were signed to Factory Records just before the labels collapse, Anthony Wilson (RIP) promising the band would follow in the footsteps of their new label mates Happy Mondays and New Order, the band were cruelly scoffed and scorned by certain stuffy nosed music press journos.

Those foolish enough to turn a blind eye on this iconic quartet are most probably now eating their straw hats without milk. Fast forward 30 odd years London Records have unearthed long lost studio master tapes with restored original artwork by Central Station Design, Chicken Rhythms should now finally get the much deserved all round plaudits its music so richly deserves. Originally produced by The Lightening Seeds Ian Broudie, the resultant jackpot reissue is an outstanding piece of work. There have been previously reissues that have not done the music justice, this is the one all fans of the band need to buy.

The familiar deep bass groove of Take 5 opens proceedings, this joyous bounteous track lit up the Top Of The Pops studio back when it was originally released, it will not hold back when you place your needle on this new vinyl. You can tell instantly that there is a dramatic superb overhaul of the overall acoustics, crisp all round instrumentation and vibrant clean vocals sound even more astounding than they ever were. Similar hair standing on its tip moments will be experienced with other choice selections including Weight Of Air, its stand to attention opening siren call sparks Paul Walsh’s drum patterns will have you pulling your best Bez dance shapes; Funky Munky harks to Edwyn Collins best moments with Orange Juice; Who’s To Blame clarion ‘I know, you know, and they know, that we know’, these words of wisdom aren’t that subtle nowadays as the bands fans all know the score.

Some consumers of the record will fast forward straight to what to some think are the bands stand out moments My Rising Star and Shall We Take A Trip. Yes, these tracks are timeless Madchester anthems standing firmly together with Fools Gold, This Is How It Feels and Kinky Afro. My Rising Star should have been a worldwide smash, an ultimate blend of classic Beatles Dear Prudence guitars, Talking Heads Tina Weymouth weighty concoctions and Stephen Morris roundhouse drum patterns. Shall We Take A Trip is a punk indie classic, ‘sing LSD’ was soon banned from all radio stations upon its initial release, now the dust has settled similar links to John Lennon are referred to these days, much deserved as Dermo’s clever lyrics throughout this set are stone cold classic lines.

To those who might want to fast forward to their chosen best moment I implore you to stop and simply press play from the very start of the album and just listen to this set in its entirety as the masterpiece it simply is. With the CD having added bonuses of the stunning Moody Places, 7” edits and brilliant new remixes, anyone with an eye on musical happenings coming out of Manchester would be well served to make this top of their Christmas list.

More information on Northside can be found here

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