You know that feeling. That specific, slightly miserable but weirdly uplifting chime of a Rickenbacker guitar paired with a lyric about crying in a chip shop. It’s a mood. Since The Smiths imploded in 1987, everyone has been trying to find that exact high again. Some people just want the jangle. Others want the melodrama. Most of us just want someone who sounds as smart as they do lonely.
Finding similar bands to The Smiths isn't just about looking for a Johnny Marr clone. It’s a rabbit hole of British post-punk, C86 cassette culture, and modern indie artists who clearly spent too much time reading Oscar Wilde in their bedrooms.
Why the Jangle Matters (and Why It Isn't Everything)
When people talk about bands like The Smiths, they usually start with the guitar. Johnny Marr changed everything. He moved away from the aggressive, distorted power chords of the late 70s and brought back the clean, intricate layering of the 60s. If you’re looking for that specific "shimmer," you have to go back to the source or look at the immediate fallout.
The Byrds are the obvious ancestors. Without Roger McGuinn’s 12-string electric, there is no This Charming Man. It’s that simple. But if you want something that feels more "Indie," look at The Sundays. Harriet Wheeler’s voice is nothing like Morrissey’s—thankfully, some might say—but David Gavurin’s guitar work on Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic is the closest anyone has ever gotten to that crystalline Marr sound without actually being him. It’s airy. It’s delicate. It’s perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Then there’s The Railway Children. They were on Factory Records for a bit, which usually meant moody synth stuff, but they were pure guitar pop. Listen to A Gentle Kind of Girl. It has that propulsive, rhythmic acoustic-electric blend that made The Queen is Dead feel so alive.
The Misery and the Wit: Finding the Lyrical Spirit
Morrissey is a polarizing figure now, but in 1984, he was the voice of every kid who felt like a "miserable lie." Finding that specific lyrical cocktail—hyper-literate, funny, biting, and desperately sad—is harder than finding a good guitar player.
The Go-Betweens are the connoisseur’s choice here. Robert Forster and Grant McLennan were the only duo that could rival the Morrissey/Marr songwriting partnership in terms of sheer sophistication. They weren’t as "pop," but songs like Cattle and Cane or Streets of Your Town capture that same sense of place and intellectual longing. They’re Australian, but they feel like they belong in a drafty Manchester flat.
If you want the wit, you go to The Housemartins. Before Fatboy Slim was Fatboy Slim, he was Norman Cook, the bassist for "the fourth best band in Hull." They had the jangle, sure, but they also had a political bite and a self-deprecating humor that felt very Smiths-adjacent. Happy Hour sounds upbeat, but it’s actually a pretty cynical look at British pub culture.
The C86 Movement and the Birth of Twee
In 1986, NME released a cassette called C86. It became a shorthand for a specific kind of shambolic, DIY guitar pop. If you like the unpolished, raw energy of The Smiths (the debut album), this is your goldmine.
- The Wedding Present: David Gedge writes about heartbreak with a frantic, stuttering urgency. It’s less poetic than Morrissey but much more relatable. George Best is an essential album.
- The Pastels: They represent the "shambling" side of the scene. It’s loose, it’s slightly out of tune, and it’s incredibly charming.
- Shop Assistants: Fast, fuzzy, and melodic.
These bands weren't trying to be rock stars. They were playing in cardigans and raincoats. That lack of traditional rock machismo is a huge part of why people look for similar bands to The Smiths in the first place. It’s music for the outsiders.
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Modern Successors: Who’s Carrying the Torch?
You don't have to stay in the 80s to find this vibe. The "Smiths influence" is a permanent fixture in indie rock now.
Take The Drums. Their early stuff, especially the self-titled album and Portamento, is basically a surf-rock version of The Smiths. Jonathan Pierce has that same dramatic vocal delivery, and the basslines are high-melodic, just like Andy Rourke’s legendary work.
Then there’s Alvvays. Molly Rankin’s songwriting is incredibly sharp. While they lean more into "Dream Pop," the DNA of the jangle-pop era is all over tracks like Archie, Marry Me. It’s melancholic but catchy as hell. They understand that you can be sad and still have a chorus that sticks in someone's head for three weeks.
For something a bit more aggressive, check out The Murder Capital or Fontaines D.C. While they fall more into the "Post-Punk Revival" category, they share that literate, heavy-hearted Irish poeticism that Morrissey (who is of Irish descent) often tapped into. It’s grittier, sure, but the soul is the same.
The "Forgotten" Peers
Sometimes the best similar bands to The Smiths were the ones standing right next to them at the time. Gene was often unfairly dismissed as a "Smiths tribute act" in the 90s, mainly because Martin Rossiter had a similar croon and the band favored melodic guitar lines. But Olympian is a fantastic record in its own right. It’s sweeping, romantic, and huge.
The Chameleons are another Manchester staple. They were much darker and more atmospheric—think more "reverb" and less "jangle"—but they captured the industrial gloom of the North in a way that fans of Meat is Murder will definitely appreciate. Mark Burgess’s lyrics are more existential and less focused on 1950s kitchen-sink dramas, but the emotional weight is identical.
The Real Truth About "The Smiths Sound"
Let’s be honest. No one is ever going to perfectly replicate that band. It was a freak accident of chemistry. You had a jazz-influenced drummer (Mike Joyce), a funk-obsessed melodic bassist (Andy Rourke), a guitar prodigy who hated solos (Johnny Marr), and a singer who thought he was a 19th-century poet (Morrissey).
When you look for similar bands to The Smiths, you’re usually looking for a specific piece of that puzzle.
- For the Basslines: Listen to New Order. Peter Hook and Andy Rourke were friends, and they both treated the bass like a lead instrument.
- For the Atmosphere: Try Echo & the Bunnymen. Ian McCulloch had the ego and the voice, and Will Sergeant provided the intricate guitar textures.
- For the Indie Pop Purity: Look at Orange Juice. Edwyn Collins was doing the "sensitive guy with a guitar" thing in Scotland before The Smiths even formed. You Can't Hide Your Love Forever is a foundational text for this whole genre.
Building Your Playlist
If you’re ready to dive in, don't just stick to the hits. Start with these specific tracks to see which "flavor" of the influence you actually like:
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- The Sundays - Can't Be Sure (The ultimate jangle-pop anthem).
- The Go-Betweens - Bachelor Kisses (For the sophisticated lyricists).
- The Drums - Money (For a modern, high-energy take).
- Gene - For the Dead (For the dramatic vocal lovers).
- The June Brides - Every Conversation (For that raw C86 energy).
- Real Estate - It's Real (For a modern, chilled-out instrumental focus).
The search for similar bands to The Smiths usually leads to a broader appreciation of the "Indie" label before it just meant "anything with a guitar." It's about a specific kind of vulnerability. It’s music that feels like a secret shared between the band and the listener.
Go listen to Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic by The Sundays first. Honestly, it's the closest you'll get to the feeling of hearing Hatful of Hollow for the first time. From there, follow the threads of the C86 scene or the more polished Sophisti-pop of the late 80s. There’s a lot of beautiful, miserable music out there waiting for you.
To truly understand the lineage, your next move should be exploring the C86 NME Compilation on your preferred streaming service. It’s a bit of a chaotic listen, but it provides the essential context for how the UK indie scene fractured and evolved immediately following the Smiths' rise to fame. After that, look into the discography of Postcard Records to see the Scottish influence that predated the Manchester explosion.