Working Men's Club

From Todmorden to Heavenly

Working Men's Club come from Todmorden in the Calder Valley of West Yorkshire and were founded by Sydney Syd Minsky-Sargeant, who sings, plays guitar and makes the beats and is the only original member. The Quietus dates the formation to 2018, at the BIMM music college in Manchester, though it gives both early and mid-2018. He has explained the name: they grew up in northern towns trying to get into pubs and social clubs because that was all they had, and the name is an ode to that. The first gig was at the Golden Lion in Todmorden, with the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge important early on, and the first single, "Bad Blood", came out on Melodic Records in January 2019.

They signed to Heavenly Recordings, and "Teeth" followed on July 15, 2019, the first sign of their move from guitar band to drum machine and synthesizers. In 2019 they played the Manchester International Festival, Bluedot, Latitude, Port Eliot and Electric Picnic, toured with Bodega in August and headlined their own tour that autumn. By October 2019 half the band had left, drummer Jake Bogacki after disagreement over the electronic direction and guitarist Giulia Bonometti amicably to go solo; with Minsky-Sargeant and bassist Liam Ogburn left, he added Mairead O'Connor of the Moonlandingz and Rob Graham of Drenge. The live drummer was replaced by a drum machine.

The self-titled debut album came out on October 2, 2020, produced by Ross Orton at McCall Sound Studio in Sheffield, and Fear Fear followed on July 15, 2022, with Minsky-Sargeant the only musician on it; The Skinny describes it as dealing with mental health and small-town frustration. A single, "Devout", was released on September 8, 2026. Critics have compared them to New Order, the Fall, OMD and Suicide.